Hamilton delivers a memorable Mercedes farewell with P4 finish, as Russell hails his teammate’s brilliance in Abu Dhabi’s F1 finale.
Lewis Hamilton concluded his Mercedes F1 journey with a stunning comeback, climbing from 16th on the grid to 4th, just shy of the podium.
For his final race with the team, he was treated to an emotional radio message and celebratory donuts on the grid at the finish.
“We dreamed alone but believed together. We accomplished incredible things—thank you for the courage, determination, passion, and for supporting me. It started as a leap of faith and ended in the history books. We did it all together, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone at the factory. I wish you all the best. I love you,” he said over the radio to Toto Wolff and Bono, his race engineer.
Reflecting on his race, he added: “When Bono [Pete Bonnington] said, ‘Hammer time,’ I realized it was the last time I’d hear it, and it really hit me in that moment.”
“It was an incredibly tough race, naturally, from where I started. I didn’t get as good a start as George, and the first stint was really difficult. I wasn’t losing hope, but it wasn’t going as well as I had thought.”
“I didn’t give up, I kept pushing and thinking, ‘Come on, we can do this.’ Once I changed tires, the car came alive. We had a massive gap to close, so I focused on extracting absolutely everything from the car and never giving up.”
“I wanted to finish on a high and give every ounce of myself to the team, just as they have given to me all these years.”
“I’m obviously very emotional tonight. It’s a new chapter with Ferrari, but I’m not doing the tests. So for now, I’m a Mercedes driver until December 31, with many emotional moments still ahead. Then in January, it’ll be time to go red.”
George Russell, overtaken by his teammate on the final lap, ended his season in 5th place.
“To be honest, I lacked pace throughout the weekend. I was curious to see if it would come together today, and it went as expected. Lewis had an incredible race, he was faster than me all weekend, and he deserved to finish ahead. For me, this was one of the toughest weekends, but I’ve had others that were better.”
A season of highs and lows… with a sense of unfinished business?
“If you had asked me after Montreal or Silverstone, I would have said we were in the fight. But shortly after… honestly, it’s too soon to reflect on it.”
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Hamilton’s Epic Mercedes Farewell: A Stunning P4 Finish Hamilton’s Epic Mercedes Farewell: A Stunning P4 Finish
