Lewis Hamilton finished his Mercedes career with an impressive comeback, clinching fourth place after starting 16th at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton, rolling back the years, overtook teammate George Russell on the final lap.
The race called time on the most successful driver-team partnership of all time — in his 12 years since joining Mercedes, Hamilton won 84 races and six world championships, adding to the title he won with McLaren in 2008.
The partnership even surpassed Michael Schuamcher’s legendary stint at Ferrari between 1996 and 2006.
The British driver will now look to follow in Schumacher’s footsteps by ending a drivers’ championship drought for Ferrari, which stretches back to Kimi Raikkonen‘s 2007 title in Hamilton’s rookie season.
If he does so, he will also move clear of the joint record of seven world championships he shares with the German driver.
“That was the drive of a world champion,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said to Hamilton on team radio after the race.
Hamilton, meanwhile, told race engineer Peter Bonnington: “We dreamed alone but together we believed. What started out as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books.”
Hamilton’s debut Ferrari appearance will not take place until early 2025.
There was a chance he could have appeared for the team in the post-season test taking place at the Yas Marina circuit next week if an early release was settled on, but he is still contracted to Mercedes until the end of the calendar year.
“It’s been a really turbulent year, probably the longest year of my life,” Hamilton added to reporters in Abu Dhabi. “Lots of ups and downs, emotionally, but we finished off with a high today.”
Next week Hamilton will visit Mercedes’ title sponsor, Petronas, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as Mercedes’ headquarters in Stuggart, Germany before visiting the team’s two UK-based Formula 1 factories in Brixwoth and Brackley.
Mercedes has said the visits will be a celebration of Hamilton’s career with the team.
Italy’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli has already been confirmed as Hamilton’s replacement for 2025 — the teen prodigy will partner George Russell.
Hamilton, who stood on his Mercedes car after performing donuts on the Abu Dhabi grid, concluded: “Every moment that I’ve got in the car this week I’ve known that it’s one of the last.
“It’s been really hard to let go.”
Source: www.espn.com