Lewis Hamilton left a touching note for Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Monza, marking a poignant farewell to his Mercedes motorhome space.
Lewis Hamilton was moved as he left the room he occupied in the Mercedes F1 motorhome during European rounds. Drivers each have their own space to rest and store their belongings, and the Briton was emotional as he left it for the last time at Monza. He left a note there for his successor, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
“It’s an interesting glimpse of Lewis that people might not see,” said Lord on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “Lewis had finished his work with the engineers. I think the engineers had left, and Lewis was alone in the upstairs room.”
“I went up, grabbed a few things, came back down, and Lewis came down the stairs, ready to leave and head home. He reached the bottom, stopped, turned around, and went back up. I thought, ‘Oh, he must have forgotten something.’ I didn’t pay much attention.”
“He came back down about 10 minutes later and approached a team member, Carlos, who is our head of race team logistics. You could see that Lewis was deeply moved.”
“He spoke to Carlos, whose job involves overseeing all the trucks and the race base in Europe. He manages the construction and transportation of these vehicles. Lewis knows that’s Carlos’s role.”
“I was there, and Lewis said to me, ‘I just realized I’ll never see that room again.’ He told me, ‘I’m very emotional.’ He said, ‘I can’t leave. I feel a bit sad leaving that room because I’ve spent so many years there, and I’ll never see it again.'”
Once Hamilton had left, Lord saw the note the seven-time champion had written for his successor: “He was truly moved to leave that room behind. Anyway, he left. I went back upstairs to pack his final driver accessories, helmets, and everything else.”
“I walked into the room and saw a long handwritten note on the wall addressed to Kimi. It welcomed him to his new space, wished him good luck, spoke warmly about the team, and explained that if you care about them, they will care about you, because it’s an incredible team.”
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s beautiful.’ So, I called Carl over and showed him, and he said, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ We actually had glass cut and placed over it so it will stay there forever.”
“Carl left, and I decided to check the bathroom to make sure everything was cleaned and nothing had been left behind. I walked in, and next to the toilet, above the roll holder, there was ‘Lewis was ’ere’ with a big smiley face drawn next to it. I thought, ‘I love that.'”
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Hamilton’s Heartfelt Note Marks Monza Farewell Hamilton’s Heartfelt Note Marks Monza Farewell
