ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Stooped beside his silver and black Mercedes W15 automotive on the principle straight of the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton paused to absorb the second.
It was the ultimate time after 12 seasons, 246 grands prix, 84 race wins and 6 drivers’ world championships, making it the longest and most profitable driver and group partnership within the historical past of F1, that he could be alone along with his Mercedes automotive. In February, he’ll be racing in pink for Ferrari.
Balancing on his toes and along with his forearms resting on the sidepod, helmet nonetheless on, Hamilton bowed his head and took a while to consider the journey he and Mercedes had been on collectively. The great, the dangerous. The highs, the lows.
“I simply needed to embrace the second as a result of it’s the final time I’m going to step right into a Mercedes and symbolize them,” Hamilton mentioned within the media pen after the race, eyes glistening. “It’s been the best honor of my life.”
The overriding emotion in that second beside the automotive was gratitude. “I used to be simply giving thanks,” Hamilton mentioned. “Firstly, thanking my very own spirit for not giving up, for persevering with to push, and thanking everybody that powers and builds that automotive. I’m happy with everybody.”
Twenty-four hours earlier, it felt like Hamilton’s final blast within the silver automotive may be a tough one. Mercedes made a mistake by mistiming his final qualifying run in Q1, leaving him a lowly sixteenth on the grid. Toto Wolff, the group principal, apologized to Hamilton for an “idiotic” mistake that will make his race a lot, a lot more durable.
Within the post-qualifying debrief, even because the engineers and strategists rued the error, Hamilton reminded them of all the great moments they’d loved collectively. He was nonetheless hopeful of ending on a excessive, offering a swansong tribute to the group that has given him a lot professionally and personally.
And Hamilton did precisely that, delivering a memorable fightback to log off at Mercedes in Abu Dhabi.
From sixteenth, he made up a handful of positions on the opening lap due to incidents forward earlier than sitting on the fringes of the factors. By operating the alternate tire technique, the plan was all the time to run deep on the arduous tire earlier than pitting, setting Hamilton up for a closing cost to the road. After biding his time and letting the vehicles forward pit, he began transferring into place for an honest factors haul. Hamilton’s engineer, Pete Bonnington, got here onto the radio towards the tip of the primary stint to say there was a attainable third-place end on the playing cards, in response to Mercedes’ information.
Hamilton emerged from the pits in seventh place with contemporary medium tires, able to bear down on the vehicles forward on older, slower hards. For one closing time, Bonnington delivered the catchphrase that it was time for Hamilton to push, one which has inspired the Briton to assert wins and poles all through their time collectively.
“OK, Lewis, it’s hammer time!”
Lewis Hamilton began P16 on the Abu Dhabi GP and completed P5. (Photograph by Luca Martini / SOPA Photographs/Sipa USA)
“When he advised me, I used to be like, I can’t bear in mind the final time he advised me ‘hammer time,’” Hamilton mentioned post-race. “I bear in mind I advised Bono to say hammer time again within the first 12 months collectively. I used to be like, ‘Don’t inform me simply, ‘go sooner,’ simply inform me, ‘It’s hammer time,’ and I’ll know what it’s!’”
As all the time, Hamilton obtained the memo. He shortly picked off Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly earlier than being advised there was a 14-second hole to his teammate, George Russell, forward in fourth place. The pair went into Abu Dhabi tied on factors from their three seasons collectively. This final stint would settle the intra-team battle. Hamilton mentioned it “took perfection” to catch Russell within the closing levels.
It went all the best way to the final lap. On the radio, Wolff advised Russell to remember the scenario, which was a mild reminder to maintain issues clear. Russell was powerless to maintain his teammate behind anyway when at Flip 9, the identical nook the place Hamilton noticed Max Verstappen draw back to the championship three years in the past and deny him a historic eighth title, Hamilton swept round Russell outdoors and moved forward. A courageous, good overtake.
“I solely caught him proper at that final lap, and I used to be like, it’s now or by no means,” Hamilton mentioned. Russell thought it was “fairly a becoming strategy to end with Lewis, only one second aside after these three years” and was happy to see his teammate finish in model. “He deserved it,” Russell mentioned. “The group deserved to provide him that send-off.”
As he turned by way of the ultimate few corners, the sky already lit up with fireworks to honor Lando Norris’s win, Hamilton soaked within the final moments as a Mercedes grand prix driver earlier than crossing the road. The radio messages with Bonnington and Wolff on the cool-down lap had been stuffed with emotion, Bonnington seemingly in tears. The top had arrived.
Hamilton was optimistic and reflective after his closing Mercedes race. (Joe Portlock/Getty Photographs)
Put up-race, the analytical aspect of Wolff contemplated that, with out the bollard getting caught below Hamilton’s automotive in qualifying, he may’ve been capable of battle for victory. Hamilton advised Wolff to as an alternative take into consideration the 84 wins they’d already achieved collectively.
“These previous few races, they don’t change how we really feel about it,” Wolff mentioned. “He drove like a world champion right now from P16. We performed the lengthy sport and completed fourth, driving away from the Purple Bull. That was a press release of a world champion.”
Hamilton was additionally glad to complete a difficult 12 months on a excessive. Regardless of wins at Silverstone and Spa, his first victories since 2021, seventh place nonetheless marks his lowest championship end in F1, having struggled to gel with the difficult Mercedes automotive all year long. The subtext of his pending transfer to Ferrari, introduced firstly of February, underpinning all the pieces this 12 months additionally introduced its personal problem.
“It’s been a extremely turbulent 12 months, in all probability the longest 12 months of my life, I’d say,” Hamilton mentioned. “We’ve recognized from the start that I’m leaving, and it’s like a relationship — whenever you’ve advised whoever the counterpart is that you just’re leaving, however you’re dwelling collectively for a complete 12 months. Plenty of ups and downs, emotionally. However we completed off with a excessive right now.”
The one feelings Hamilton felt post-race had been optimistic. He’d accomplished his celebratory donuts on the start-finish line, permission given to him as a part of the FIA’s post-race procedures, after which gone again to the Mercedes storage to have a good time along with his group, so a lot of whom had been desirous to get one closing image collectively. A long-lasting reminiscence for all their success. All of the historical past they’ve written.
Hamilton performs a burnout after the Abu Dhabi System One Grand Prix. (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
The entire weekend had been about that. On Thursday, Hamilton took a lot of his engineers and mechanics, together with Bonnington, for a sizzling lap concerning the Yas Marina Circuit. Mercedes then held a group occasion on Thursday evening that regarded again on Hamilton’s time at Brackley and paid tribute to all their success. Hamilton had no thought it was taking place and was genuinely touched by the shock.
“That was tremendous emotional,” he mentioned. “I ain’t obtained no extra tears, actually. The whole lot got here on the market.”
That didn’t cease Sunday from being soaked in emotion. Regardless of the challenges of this 12 months and the lengthy, awkward goodbye earlier than he strikes to Ferrari, a fierce rival Hamilton and Mercedes have labored tirelessly to defeat, there has all the time been an underlying respect and affection for all they’ve completed collectively. The message from Wolff and the Mercedes board members in Abu Dhabi to Hamilton was that he would all the time be part of their story and, extra importantly, their household.
When Hamilton made the choice to stop McLaren for Mercedes again in 2012, many thought it was the fallacious transfer. Few may have predicted their success. Even fewer that the connection would’ve lasted so lengthy and run so deep.
As Hamilton put it on the cool-down lap, “What began out as a leap of religion was a journey into the historical past books.” What a journey it has been.
Prime photograph: Sipa USA
