Hamilton Faces Emotional Turmoil in Last Mercedes Season

Hamilton “Underestimated” Challenges of Final Year at Mercedes

05/12/2024

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.”

Hamilton Faces Emotional Turmoil in Last Mercedes Season Hamilton Faces Emotional Turmoil in Last Mercedes Season

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21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
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21 MAR 03:30 - 04:30
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21 MAR 07:30 - 08:14
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22 MAR 03:00 - 04:00
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2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
F1 CALENDAR 2025
Race
Date
Chinese Flag
Chinese
Shanghai International
23 Mar
Japanese Flag
Japanese
Suzuka Circuit
6 Apr
Bahrain Flag
Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
Saudi Arabia Flag
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
United States Flag
United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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