Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes F1: The end of an era

Lewis Hamilton emerged from the smoke of his donuts in Abu Dhabi, knelt next to his Mercedes and patted the side of the car.

It might not have been the fairytale result they had hoped for, but he and Mercedes had still managed to finish well. An exit from Q1, due in part to a bollard becoming wedged under his floor, made for a difficult outlook heading into Sunday, but Hamilton was through the field with a measured drive, capped off with a lovely maneuver on the outside of Teammate George Russell, on track to give his best on the final lap to finish fourth.

“Every moment I spent in the car this week I knew it would be one of the last,” said Hamilton. “It was really, really clear and I had a really hard time letting go. I think when I stopped the car I just wanted to enjoy this moment because it’s the last time I’m going to get in a Mercedes and represent them.

“It was the greatest honor of my life. They have driven every race, every pole position, every win we have had together, every championship, and I think when I knelt next to it, it was just a thank you. Firstly, I would like to thank my own spirit for not giving up and keeping pushing, and thank everyone who powered and built this car. I’m proud of everyone.”

It all came down to this – a final moment with the car, a sign of respect for a team that has become family. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

The fact that Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has been known for so long means the shock has worn off. The Brit compares it to living with a partner for a year after announcing they were splitting up, but the final race together between him and Mercedes really is such a milestone in Formula 1 history.

At the end of 2012 – when Hamilton had only been in Formula 1 for five years but was feeling like a McLaren creature – he took the bold step of leaving his comfort zone and looking for a team with the chance for more personal freedom and a front-driving car offered.

“Of course I remember meeting Niki (Lauda),” he said. “And I remember making the decision…It definitely wasn’t as painful and difficult as this year as far as emotions go. I think because it was at the end of the year it happened a lot quicker and I don’t think there was enough time to really settle in with anyone within the team.

“It’s a lot more emotional because I’ve been on the team for so long and we’ve been through so much together.”

His decision to change teams over a decade ago was like searching for the Holy Grail and Hamilton has certainly found it at Mercedes.

Many have previously failed in this search. Fernando Alonso is one of those drivers who is often cited for moving teams around in search of a happy home and never being in the right place at the right time.

But it was a perfect fit for Hamilton and Mercedes. An organization in which he had a teammate in Nico Rosberg who encouraged him and ensured that it was not only his team, but in which his belief in the change had also further motivated a workforce that was getting closer and closer to having a real one to become a competitor.

When Hamilton started at Mercedes, he was still in the maturing phase. When he turned 28 before his first season, one would have expected him to be in his prime, but this was a driver who still had a lot of development work to do on and off the track. We just didn’t know it at the time.

Entire seasons passed in which Hamilton and his then teammate Nico Rosberg were seemingly inseparable. It was a time of great development, culminating in a championship fight that showed great restraint even on the losing side. Steven Tee/Motorsport Pictures

The 2014 season saw double points at the end, but this was not necessary as the gap between the two Mercedes drivers was just 17 points before Hamilton secured their second title. The third was much more emphatic, but winning the championship early in Austin, which gave Rosberg the chance to win the three remaining races – the first time Rosberg had beaten his teammate in three consecutive races, both of which had ended – ensured for momentum that would prove hard to sustain.

Four more wins early in the season put Rosberg on his way, and Hamilton’s crown was in danger. Retiring in Malaysia was particularly costly, but the potential for such an issue to be so significant emerged from previous findings.

But the race in which Hamilton lost the title also showed the level at which he works. The way he was able to manipulate the pace and make Rosberg chase traffic was extremely impressive as he never went too far with his approach to this particular title scenario.

Hamilton was upset that Rosberg quit this winter because he was not given reciprocal rights to regain his crown against the defending champion. But he managed to regain victory in dominant fashion, winning seven championships four times in a row alongside Michael Schumacher, breaking the German’s record for Formula One victories.

It’s easy to be influenced by recency bias, but it shouldn’t be overlooked that Hamilton overtook Russell on the final lap at Abu in the 2024 finale, even after missing out on the 2021 title in such devastating fashion and with the new generation of cars too Dhabi ensured that he outperformed his highly regarded teammate in the three years they competed together.

The standards Hamilton has set at Mercedes mean the statistics still represent a return to form after being far from his best. He admits he struggled with this, especially as the year progressed with the knowledge that a new beginning was on the horizon.

Although the relationship always seemed very close, 2024 brought a whole new set of challenges for Hamilton and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

“The first meeting with Toto at the beginning of the year was obviously unpleasant,” said Hamilton. “It was embarrassing from the start until the next day when I was playing paintball with the team and they had just found out. I got a lot of injections from people, a lot of bruises – people attacked me that day!

“I think ultimately I expected it to be difficult, but I massively underestimated how difficult it would be. It put a strain on the relationship early on and it took some time for people to get over it.

“Just for myself, it’s been a very emotional year and I don’t think I was at my best in dealing with those emotions. I think this year so many of you have been here throughout my entire career, so you’ve all seen the worst and the best of me, and I won’t apologize for either because I’m only human and I can’t always do it do it right – I would definitely say this year has been one of the worst for me in terms of dealing with it and I’m going to work on getting better at it.

“But I hope that the good and the highs far outweigh the negatives and the way I handled it or behaved. I just remember the good times. I have built some incredible relationships.

“Imagine experiencing a season together with so many people, not just on the race weekends where they experience ups and downs together, but also in their personal lives – through marriages, through divorces, through losses of family members, through cancer , through all sorts of things – you go on these journeys with these people. It’s a really beautiful journey you take together and when you’re together for so long the emotions are so deep.”

Those emotions will really be felt now as Hamilton prepares to arrive at Maranello in the near future and begin a whole new phase of his career. Just as the memorable partnership between Schumacher and Ferrari will last forever, eclipsing his last time at Mercedes, it will be next to impossible for Hamilton to produce anything at the Scuderia that matches what he and Mercedes achieved together , dwarfs it.

It is truly the end of an era – an era that may never be equaled again.