Lewis Hamilton, 39, experienced his last Grand Prix this Sunday (8) as a driver for the Mercedes team. The Englishman, who will drive for Ferrari from 2025, said goodbye to the team for which he won six of his seven titles with a good performance at the Abu Dhabi circuit. After starting in 16th place, he crossed the finish line in fourth.
Before the race, the Briton talked about his last days at the German team and described what he felt in his last moments as a driver for the team for which he has raced for the last 12 years as “a strange feeling”.
“On Thursday, everyone on the team got together and I couldn’t control my emotions,” said the Englishman shortly before the start. “I’ll probably have more moments like this today and this week, when I return to the factory to say goodbye,” he added.
“But I feel good and I’m extremely grateful to everyone on the team for all these years”, added the driver.
Lewis Hamilton says goodbye to Mercedes with six titles, 246 races contested, 84 victories — a record for a driver with the same team —, 78 pole positions, in addition to 153 podiums.
Since the runner-up in 2021, however, the Englishman has experienced his worst years for the team. In 2022, he had his worst place in the F1 World Championship, finishing in sixth place, in 2023, despite the instability of his car, he managed to be in third place, but he renewed his worst record this year, with a seventh place.
“On a personal level, it was a difficult year and I believe I didn’t express myself in the best way possible when it came to managing my emotions and facing them”, he acknowledged. “Throughout my career, you’ve seen me at my best and my worst, but I won’t apologize because I’m human and I can’t be perfect. But I can say this has been one of my worst years, so I have to work to try to do better,” he said.
Future from Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton made a point of stating that he avoided thinking about Ferrari until he ended his cycle at Mercedes. The Englishman, however, admitted that his move to the Italian team renewed his motivation. “It’s every pilot’s dream.”
Waiting for its new driver, the Italian team fought this Sunday to win the Constructors’ World Championship, but ended up being defeated in a fierce dispute by McLaren, who took the trophy thanks to Lando Norris’ victory in Abu Dhabi.
Carlos Sainz, in second, and Charles Leclerc, in third, closed the podium, but even so they were unable to stop the orange team’s celebration.
The British team has not won the trophy since 1998. Ferrari, in turn, remains in line and has not won the trophy since 2008.
