Lewis Hamilton has described his time with Mercedes as the greatest honor of his life after seven days of championing his team’s ultimate race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After a superlative drive around the Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton also admitted that after a difficult year it was good to say goodbye on a high.
Hamilton drove from 16th to fourth in Abu Dhabi, another strong performance as he has been a singular success with Mercedes since he joined the team in 2013. He won six titles with them and 84 wins over 12 seasons with them. last race before He joins Ferrari next yearHe took the moment to contemplate everything in the exit, when a special place was given to the park in the start-finish straight next to the top three, where he bent next to the car.
“When I stopped coaching I wanted to embrace now that this is the last time to enter and represent Mercedes, it was the greatest honor of my life,” he said.
“I say every moment that I have in the car this week, I know it’s the last one and it’s really hard to let go. I’m proud of every class, every pole, everything we had together, every championship, so when I bent next to him I just thanked him, first of all I thank you with my heart that you always give, thanking everyone powerfully. and he built his car. I’m the heart of everyone.”
Eighth after being denied the title A controversial finish at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand PrixMercedes and Hamilton have contended since the regulations changed in 2022, the team has been developing a consistently and well-balanced car. This year, while better, the car of Mercurial and Hamilton remained, and the team also had to adapt to the reality of their departure, which started early in the season and which had not been an easy task.
“It was a really turbulent year, maybe the longest year of my life, I would say, because we knew from the beginning that we were going,” he said. “It’s like a relationship when you tell someone it’s like you’re going away, but you live together all year. Lots of emotions going on, but today we ended with a big one.
Lando Norris won the race at the Yas Marina circuit, securing McLaren’s first championship for 26 years, to drive from pole to flag after a commanding drive. Both Ferraris beat him to seal the title under no small amount of pressure, especially after his teammate Oscar Piastri had been pulled out of contention by Max Verstappen on the opening lap. What a great right he is.
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“Today is a very special day for all of us,” he said. “It was ours to lose today and certainly for some moments they thought it was not far from losing. The bigger picture of us winning the championship for the first time in 26 years feels wrong McLaren We haven’t won a championship in 20 years, but for me to be a part of that, for Oscar to be a part of it, we’re incredibly proud. Delivering the biggest team put a smile on everyone’s face.”