The most successful driver-team pairing in Formula 1 history will come to an end this weekend as Lewis Hamilton drives his last race for Mercedes at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Over 12 seasons with the team, the 39-year-old British racer has captured six championships, 84 race wins and 78 pole positions, and 153 podium finishes.
Hamilton is headed to Ferrari next season and will drive alongside Charles Leclerc, who has raced for the Italian team since 2019. He said ahead of the race that he's still processing it all.
“Pretty calm at the moment. Feeling positive and excited just to give it all this weekend,” Hamilton told reporters on Thursday. “Already from like the briefings that we’ve had, like, you’re sitting there and you’re realizing these are the last moments with the team, which is … it’s hard to describe the feeling. It’s not the greatest, of course, but I think mostly I’m just really proud of what we’ve achieved. And I have so much pride in this team.”
Hamilton reminisced about the most memorable moments of his extraordinary career with Mercedes.
“I think it’s the smiles — when we’ve had the success,” he said. “It’s the emotions that we had in Silverstone this year. It’s all the good bits. Naturally, you mostly remember the good bits.”
There have also been low points that Hamilton will want to forget.
The 2021 season ended in bitterness after Hamilton lost the title-deciding race to Max Verstappen on the last lap after a controversial officiating decision. Then, 2022 and 2023 marked the only winless seasons of Hamilton’s F1 career.
This season, despite winning two races, he has often been outpaced by younger teammate George Russell, causing him to ponder aloud whether he’s lost his touch. After some middling results, Hamilton vented that he’s “slow” during an interview with F1 last weekend in Qatar. “I’m definitely not fast anymore,” he said.
Apart from a sensational victory at his U.K. home Grand Prix in July, it’s been a season to forget for Hamilton. He enters the last race in seventh place in the driver’s standings, 24 points behind Russell. He said Thursday that he “anticipated it would be difficult” to have a long goodbye with Mercedes, “but massively underestimated how difficult it would be” given the strain on relationships.
“It’s been a very emotional year for me. And I think I’ve not been at my best in handling and dealing with those emotions,” Hamilton said. “And I think this year, and so many of you have been here my whole career, so some of you, I think, you’ve all seen the worst of me and seen the best of me and I’m not going to apologize for either because I’m only human and I don’t always get it right.”
Mercedes team boss and CEO Toto Wolff called the race “a celebration” of the Hamilton-Mercedes achievements after a partnership of “many highs and “some crushing lows.”
“After 12 incredible years, we get ready to write the final chapter in our racing story with Lewis this weekend. It has been quite a journey,” Wolff said in a statement. “It is a legacy that transcends our sport, with a lasting impact beyond the racetrack. One that has strived to increase diversity in our sport. To fight for inclusion. Lewis has been the catalyst for so much of this, and we have been honored and proud to work hand-in-hand with him.”
Including his successes with McLaren earlier in his career, Hamilton holds the F1 record for overall race wins (105), pole positions (104) and seven championships that equal Michael Schumacher, who won five of his titles with Ferrari.
“I’m not looking at comparing myself to Michael,” Hamilton said. “I’m trying to think about making sure that finish off the right way and the best way possible with Mercedes. These next days are going to be super emotional. It’s all a big unknown for what’s up ahead. Obviously, massive excitement.”
Amid the difficult season, Hamilton has found some joy off the race track, taking one small step closer to fulfilling his childhood dream of going to outer space. He attended astronaut flight training in Austin, Texas, last week according to video footage captured by his management team and Mercedes sponsor IWC Schaffhausen.
How did the feeling compare to racing?
“It’s very different to F1. The blood never leaves your head,” Hamilton said. "When you’re turning the plane, you feel the blood leaving your body, your chest gets heavy and it’s hard to breathe.”
