Four-time Formula 1 world ꦆchampion Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that the decision to wipe his social media channels over the winter break had been long-planned by his management team.

Hamilton sparked controversy in December when he uploaded a video of himself telling a young family member that "⭕boys don't wear dresses", causing a backlash across social media.

Hamilton apologised for the comments before deleting t꧃he majority of his posts from both Twitter and Instagram a few days later, seemingly in response to the episode.

However, Hamilton has now revealed that the move was always planned for the winter b♎reak by his management team, but that the timing proved to be a happy coincidence.

"We always planned at the end of the year to start a clean slate at the beginninꦇg of this year. It just so happened that it turned out to be an opportunistic time to change it," Hamilton&♉nbsp;said.

"It’s always difficult to make a change [in approach] because I’m𝓀 quite happy. But we are in a very strange time in the world where things are magnified more than perhaps there were in previous years, so it’s a critical time for the world.

"For me personally, I think I’ll continue to show what I am doing. I think it’s just about being maybe a little more stღraꦕtegic in what I do or don’t show.

"It is a gateway to connect my fans in a way that I am not able to do at race𒈔 weekends, so it will continue to be a part of my life."

Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff was asked if he saw Hamilton's social media activities as a distraction to h🐓is racing duties, but was quick to dismiss the suggesti♚on.

"I think there is so much cra🗹p in the social media.ꦡ What’s big today has no relevance tomorrow," Wolff said.

"The best thing is to en💜tertain yourself and ignore the haters."