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The 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, has left the Mercedes team after 11 years of successful partnership, winning six world championships and eight constructors championships. Hamilton was a big asset for the German brand, but life has to move on, which should be good for both.
He will join Ferrari, another iconic brand from Italy, and Hamilton’s biggest rival team. From next year, he will race for them alongside Charles Leclerc, and they seem to have the potential to win the world championship next year. Mercedes gave Lewis Hamilton the biggest farewell in Formula 1 history. The whole Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit was surrounded by Hamilton’s farewell at Mercedes, and it even overshadowed McLaren's first constructors championship in 26 years.
Lewis Hamilton had a bad qualifying session when a bollard went under his car and spoilt his pace. Mercedes was also guilty of letting him out very late to the session, as he didn't have enough time to set lap time with so much traffic on the track. But Sunday's race will forever be remembered by Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton had a good pit stop and changed his tires to Mediums while everyone was on Hards. He overtook every driver in the top 10 and went to P5 before the final lap.
In the last lap, he attacked his teammate George Russell on the outside line and surpassed him to clinch P4 in his final race for the Mercedes team. After the race was complete, he was on his slowdown lap, waving hands to the fans around the track. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington, gave instructions to follow on his steering wheel. Usually, teams do them to cool down the engine or change the settings. Lewis, without knowing, followed every instruction and finally saw the surprise.
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One Last Surprise from Mercedes
A special surprise on the steering wheel for Lewis’ final lap in a Mercedes 🥹pic.twitter.com/Z44ZYOUcu0
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 12, 2024
It was a photo of Lewis Hamilton sitting with his championship and was a message written “Thank You, Lewis, 'Forever We Rise'" beside that his championship-winning years were written. Hamilton was surprised to see that and said 'Thank you' to the garage and the team. Starting from the McLaren team in his early days, he used only Mercedes engines in his career. And next year, he will drive a Ferrari for the first time.
The Abu Dhabi race has become more of a farewell. It gave us a feeling of Lewis Hamilton retiring from the sport. Even he and Lando joked about that. But a new chapter starts in Lewis Hamilton's career where he will first time drive a non-Mercedes engine car, and let's see what he brings next year.
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