Hamilton Faces Emotional Turmoil in Last Mercedes Season

Lewis Hamilton admits he “underestimated” the emotional and professional struggles of his final season with Mercedes, facing tough challenges all year.

Lewis Hamilton admitted to having “massively underestimated” what his final year at Mercedes would be like after announcing he would join Ferrari for 2025, acknowledging that he hadn’t always managed his emotions in the best way.

Hamilton will race for the Silver Arrows for the 246th and final time at the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend, marking the last chapter of a team-driver relationship that has rewritten the sport’s record books over the past 12 years.

“It’s here, my last race with Mercedes AMG F1. What we’ve built together over the years is nothing short of historic. People doubted my decision in 2013, and here we are now. The records we’ve broken, the championships we’ve won, it all speaks for itself.”

“This won’t be the last time I thank Mercedes, but the fact that I’m approaching my last race with this team really touches me now. It’s truly the end of an era in my life, my career, for the team, and in F1 history. I’m proud of what we’ve created, proud of everyone who has been part of it with me.”

However, as the seven-time world champion prepares to close out a difficult season in which he’s set to record his worst-ever championship result in F1, a reflective Hamilton opened up about the tensions and emotions of the past 11 months since his explosive move to Ferrari was made public.

“The first meeting with Toto [Wolff] at the start of the year was awkward, of course, so it was awkward from the start,” he added during Thursday’s driver press conference.

“The next day, when I took a few team members to play paintball, they had just learned about it. So there have been a lot of emotional moments throughout the year. I’ve been really moved by people, a lot of ups and downs. Some criticized me, others praised me for making such a brave choice.”

“I expected it to be difficult, but I massively underestimated how tough it would be. It tested the relationship very early on, and it took people time to recover from it.”

“And then, just on my side, it’s been a very emotional year for me, and I think I wasn’t at my best in managing those emotions.”

“Many of you (the media) have been here throughout my career, so some of you have seen both the worst and the best of me.”

“And I’m not going to apologize for either because I’m just human, and I don’t always do things right. I would certainly say this year has been one of the worst in terms of managing that on my side, and I’ll try to improve on that.”

However, Hamilton stated that, in the end, it is the highs and lows of their shared achievements and the strength of the relationships built within the team that will stand the test of time.

“I hope the good moments will far outweigh the negatives, in terms of how I handled the situation or how I behaved.”

“And as I said, just remember the good times. I’ve built incredible relationships. Imagine going through a season with so many people, not just during those race weekends, living the highs and lows together, but also in their personal lives, through weddings, divorces, the loss of family members, cancer, all sorts of things – you go through those journeys with these people.”

“So it’s a beautiful journey you take together, and being there for so long makes the emotions so deep.”