Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes with one final overtake and a heartfelt message to the team where he secured six Formula 1 titles.
“We dreamed alone but together, we believed,” Hamilton said to race engineer Peter Bonnington and team principal Toto Wolff over the radio. “Thank you for all the courage, the determination, and the passion for supporting me. What started out as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books.”
Hamilton is set to move to Ferrari for the 2025 season after 12 years at Mercedes, where he won six of his seven career drivers’ championships. His time at Mercedes was the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history, and it ended with him overtaking teammate George Russell for fourth place on the last lap.
After the race, Hamilton spun his car to perform celebratory “donuts” for the crowd before getting out and giving a double thumbs-up as fans chanted “Lewis.” He then crouched beside the car and patted it.
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari means he will continue to chase his elusive eighth world title. This goal was denied in 2021 when Max Verstappen passed him on the last lap in Abu Dhabi after a safety-car restart, a moment still remembered as one of the most controversial in F1 history.
It’s been almost 10 months since Hamilton’s decision to leave was announced, and he has admitted that the upcoming change has strained his relationships within the team.
Hamilton started his 246th and final race with Mercedes from 16th on the grid after a tough qualifying session that led to an apology from Wolff. He worked his way up to 12th place early on but struggled to move forward after that. “I’ve got no pace, mate,” he said over the radio. It seemed like his luck would continue, casting a shadow over his farewell.
However, things started to turn around. The strategy to start on the more durable hard tire and finish on the faster medium tire worked out, allowing Hamilton to move up as other drivers pitted.
At one point, a podium finish seemed possible, but Hamilton ended up focusing on catching Russell on the final lap. Still, Wolff praised his performance, saying, “That was the drive of a world champion.”
