ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Stooped beside his silver and black Mercedes W15 car on the main straight of the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton paused to soak up the moment.
It was the final time after 12 seasons, 246 grands prix, 84 race wins and six drivers’ world championships, making it the longest and most successful driver and team
partnership in the history of F1, that he would be alone with his Mercedes car. In February, he’ll be racing in red for Ferrari.
Balancing on his toes and with his forearms resting on the sidepod, helmet still on, Hamilton bowed his head and took some time to think about the journey he and Mercedes had been on together. The good, the bad. The highs, the lows.
“I just wanted to embrace the moment because it’s the last time I’m going to step into a Mercedes and represent them,” Hamilton said in the media pen after the race, eyes glistening. “It’s been the greatest honor of my life.”
The overriding emotion in that moment beside the car was gratitude. “I was just giving thanks,” Hamilton said. “Firstly, thanking my own spirit for not giving up, for continuing to push, and thanking everyone that powers and builds that car. I’m proud of everyone.”
Twenty-four hours earlier, it felt like Hamilton’s last blast in the silver car might be a difficult one. Mercedes made a mistake by mistiming his last qualifying run in Q1, leaving him a lowly 16th on the grid. Toto Wolff, the team principal, apologized to Hamilton for an “idiotic” mistake that would make his race much, much tougher.
In the post-qualifying debrief, even as the engineers and strategists rued the error, Hamilton reminded them of all the good moments they’d enjoyed together. He was still hopeful of finishing on a high, providing a swansong tribute to the team that has given him so much professionally and personally.
And Hamilton did exactly that, delivering a memorable fightback to sign off at Mercedes in Abu Dhabi.
From 16th, he made up a handful of positions on the opening lap thanks to incidents ahead before sitting on the fringes of the points. By running the alternate tire strategy, the plan was always to run deep on the hard tire before pitting, setting Hamilton up for a final charge to the line. After biding his time and letting the cars ahead pit, he started moving into position for a decent points haul. Hamilton’s engineer, Pete Bonnington, came onto the radio toward the end of the first stint to say there was a possible third-place finish on the cards, according to Mercedes’ data.
Hamilton emerged from the pits in seventh place with fresh medium tires, ready to bear down on the cars ahead on older, slower hards. For one final time, Bonnington delivered the catchphrase that it was time for Hamilton to push, one that has encouraged the Briton to claim wins and poles throughout their time together.
