Lewis Hamilton’s final F1 lap with Mercedes: A year of challenges, a decade of triumphs

[ad_1] ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Atop the Mercedes hospitality unit on the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, cooled by close by followers working arduous within the noon warmth, Lewis Hamilton sat at a desk together with his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, for some pre-race weekend planning.

It was a routine they’d been by way of loads of occasions earlier than — 245 occasions, actually — however the 246th time carried a bit of extra emotion. After 12 years, 84 race wins and 6 world championships, marking it probably the most profitable driver-team partnership in F1 historical past, this was the final race weekend for Hamilton as a Mercedes driver.

Hamilton’s conversations with Bonnington, affectionately referred to as ‘Bono’ and somebody Hamilton has likened to a brother, remained as skilled as ever. They knew there was a job to do. However talking a number of hours later, the seven-time world champion admitted these chats concerned an additional diploma of emotion.

“You’re sitting there, and also you’re realizing these are the final moments with the crew, which is … it’s arduous to explain the sensation,” Hamilton stated. “It’s not the best, in fact, however I feel principally I’m simply actually pleased with what we’ve achieved.”

The ‘final dance’ for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes has been ten months within the making. On Feb. 1, Hamilton introduced he would transfer to Ferrari for 2025, securing the 39-year-old a final blast in F1’s iconic pink automobiles to finish his glittering profession. Abu Dhabi was all the time going to be a big grand prix.

However on the finish of a taxing 12 months on the observe, stuffed with the highs of victory at Silverstone and Spa to the late-season lows, each Hamilton and Mercedes are dedicated to ending with a celebration.

“It’s a very lovely journey you go on collectively,” Hamilton stated. “And being that it was so lengthy, the feelings run so deep.”

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes crew principal, had an inkling of what was coming when Hamilton arrived at his Oxfordshire dwelling for his or her pre-season catch-up.

Fred Vasseur, Ferrari’s F1 chief and a detailed pal of Wolff’s, hadn’t replied to a textual content asking if he was “taking our driver,” and the daddy of Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton would substitute, had tipped off the Mercedes boss that one thing is likely to be occurring.

Wanting again on Thursday, Hamilton admitted to it being an “awkward” assembly with Wolff to interrupt the information that their partnership would finish. Solely eight months earlier, they’d agreed on a contract extension that appeared to reaffirm their dedication, one Hamilton had beforehand envisaged lasting lengthy past his time racing in F1 was over. Their joint work on campaigns to help lengthy overdue change regarding range and equality in F1 is a legacy meaning extra to Hamilton than his racing achievements.

It additionally made for a 12 months he admitted that he “massively underestimated” from an emotional standpoint. “It was straining on the connection very early on; (it) took time for individuals to get previous it,” Hamilton admitted. “After which only for my very own self, it’s been a really emotional 12 months for me. And I feel I’ve not been at my greatest in dealing with and coping with these feelings.”

<img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-5974899 size-full" src="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-300x200.jpg 300w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112650/GettyImages-2187612686-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"/> Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff speak on the grid at Lusail Worldwide Circuit on Nov. 30, 2024. (James Sutton – Formulation 1/Formulation 1 through Getty Photos) Hamilton has all the time worn his coronary heart on his sleeve, evidenced by the tears that flowed after ending his two-and-a-half-year win drought at Silverstone. The intimacy of his relationship with Mercedes permits a brutal honesty that has survived vital disappointments — like his 2016 title loss to teammate Nico Rosberg or, extra controversially, what occurred in Abu Dhabi three years in the past when he missed out on a report eighth world title.

Wolff has all the time appreciated to prod at any open wounds, realizing that's usually the one method to perceive the way to make a scenario higher. He felt that Hamilton and Mercedes had “performed a great job” dealing with the feelings of this 12 months.

“When he took the choice firstly of the season to go, we knew it might be a bumpy 12 months forward,” Wolff stated in Qatar. “He is aware of he’s going to go elsewhere. We all know our future lies with Kimi (Antonelli). To undergo the ups and downs and nonetheless hold it collectively between us, that's one thing now we have achieved.”

“I’m simply gradual.”

For these phrases to be uttered by a seven-time world champion may appear fanciful. However there was a level of resignation as Hamilton digested a troublesome Friday of observe for the Qatar Grand Prix, the place he couldn’t really feel the automobile giving him again the sort of efficiency he wanted. It continued a season-long development.

For a lot of the 12 months, the Mercedes W15 automobile hadn’t gelled to his driving model or allowed him to extract the sort of tempo that he’d wanted, significantly over a single lap. Via 23 races this season, Hamilton trails George Russell 18-5 of their qualifying head-to-head and is 24 factors behind within the drivers’ standings.

The day after Hamilton made that remark, when he’d certified sixth in Qatar whereas Russell was P2 and nearly half a second faster, he was requested to broaden on it. Did he actually imply that he’s misplaced the sting? Is that this an indication of the decline most elite drivers and sports activities stars encounter as they close to their forties?

“I do know I’ve nonetheless bought it,” Hamilton stated. “(It’s) simply the automobile received’t go a bit quicker. I positively know I’ve bought it nonetheless. It’s not a query in my thoughts. (I’m) wanting ahead to the top.”

<img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-5974902 size-full" src="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-300x200.jpg 300w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06112921/GettyImages-2188504138-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"/> Lewis Hamilton enters his ultimate race with Mercedes seventh within the drivers’ championship. (Mark Thompson/Getty Photos) It wasn’t the primary time Hamilton had given such a bleak outlook. After the race in Brazil, the place he’d lagged to tenth in wet situations whereas Russell had been within the combine for victory previous to the pink flag, he admitted he “may fortunately go and take a vacation” as an alternative of doing the ultimate triple-header. In Las Vegas, when the W15 got here alive within the chilly and allowed Mercedes to brush to a 1-2, Hamilton appeared downbeat that he’d not been the one to steer it dwelling after qualifying down in P10 whereas Russell was on pole.

“These final races, perhaps even the entire season, was clearly not what we anticipated,” Wolff stated in Qatar. “That automobile is a handful to drive on its worst days.”

However how a lot of that has damage Hamilton in a approach that it has not for Russell? Wolff put a part of it all the way down to Hamilton’s driving model. “One in all his strengths is how he’s all the time capable of brake late and assault the nook, and the automobile can’t take it,” he stated, including that when the grip kicks within the slow-speed corners, the issue worsens. “Then if the automobile slides extra and it lacks grip, that contributes to (him) in all probability struggling greater than George.”

In Qatar, Vasseur stated he was “by no means” involved by the type of his incoming star signee. “Take a look on the 50 laps that he did in Vegas, beginning P10 (and) ending on the gearbox of Russell,” Vasseur stated. “I’m not anxious in any respect.”

The progress made by Ferrari this 12 months, recovering from its mid-season droop to place up a late struggle to McLaren for the constructors’ title, may also encourage Hamilton that he can rekindle extra of his previous type. He pressured on Thursday that whereas his focus stays on Mercedes for his ultimate weekend, there was a pure pleasure constructing in regards to the subsequent chapter.

“It actually sparks motivation,” Hamilton stated, “and it’s a dream state of affairs for any driver to have a chance like this. I don’t take that without any consideration.”

At any time when Hamilton hangs up his helmet and calls time on his enormously profitable profession, this era with Mercedes would be the lasting, most definitive a part of his racing legacy.

When he determined in 2012 to make a shock transfer away from McLaren, then constantly certainly one of F1’s main groups, it was scoffed at as a mistake: a step into the midfield, away from the crew that had introduced Hamilton as much as F1, and into the unknown.

It proved to be the suitable transfer on the proper time. McLaren was about to begin a decade-long decline, whereas Mercedes was on the verge of beginning a record-breaking F1 dynasty with Hamilton because the centerpiece.

The transfer additionally allowed Hamilton to turn into himself. His evolution from a 27-year-old one-time champion into certainly one of F1’s elder statesmen, on the cusp of his fortieth birthday with seven world titles to his title, with pursuits and a celeb standing stretching far past this paddock, has been spectacular.

<img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-5974906 size-full" src="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/12/06113102/GettyImages-2187729476-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"/> Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton sits on his automobile, posing for a gaggle picture together with his crew forward of the Abu Dhabi GP. (Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP) On the doorway to Mercedes’ storage for this weekend on the Yas Marina Circuit are two massive footage of Hamilton, one from Hungary 2013 — his first win for Mercedes — and the second from Silverstone this 12 months, arguably probably the most emotional of his report 104 victories. Throughout it reads the message: “Each dream wants a crew.”

Even the challenges of this 12 months and the problem of a year-long goodbye is not going to diminish what Hamilton and Mercedes constructed collectively.

“Nothing goes to remove 12 unbelievable years with eight constructors’ and 6 drivers’ championships,” Wolff stated. “That's what would be the reminiscence, and after subsequent Sunday, we’re going to look again on this nice time period relatively than a season or races that have been significantly unhealthy.

“We'll stick with the great recollections.”

Good recollections. Historic recollections. So heavy in emotion that, when the checkered flag drops for Hamilton on Sunday night time and he hoists himself out of a Mercedes F1 automobile for the ultimate time, they may certainly come flooding again.