Lewis Hamilton raced for Mercedes one final time on Sunday, capping off one of Formula One’s most successful driver-team partnerships in a cloud of tire smoke, heartfelt radio exchanges and a performance befitting a seven-time world champion.
The 39-year-old Briton, set to join Ferrari next season, arrived at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit in red, bidding an emotional farewell as tributes flooded the airwaves.
“We dreamed a lot, but together we believed,” Hamilton said after finishing fourth in the season finale, a race he started 16th due to a plastic bollard becoming wedged under his car in qualifying.
“Thank you for all the courage, the determination, the passion and everything in supporting me.
“What started as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books. We did everything together, and I’m so, so grateful to everyone.”
Hamilton performed smoking “doughnut” spins for the crowd on the finish straight, then got out, huddled by the car, and kissed it.
He embraced race winner Lando Norris, who secured McLaren’s first constructors’ title in 26 years.
Hamilton’s 12 years at Mercedes brought them six driver’s titles, eight constructors’ championships, 84 wins, 78 poles and 153 podium finishes.
Hamilton’s own records extend well beyond that, with a first title for McLaren in 2008 – the team also powered by Mercedes – and his personal tally of wins now at 105.
Every lap the most successful driver in the sport’s history has completed has been powered by the three-pointed star of a Mercedes engine.
Fourteen seconds behind teammate George Russell with 15 laps to go, Hamilton reeled in his compatriot and passed him on the final lap.
As so often in the past, the call came from race engineer Peter Bonnington telling him it was “Hammer time.”
“I think when he said it was ‘Hammer time,’ I was like, ‘That’s the last time I’m going to hear that.’ It really clicked for me in that moment,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.
“I was just giving absolutely everything to the car. I wanted to finish on as much of a high and give every ounce of me to the team as they’ve given me all of these years.”
Team boss Toto Wolff told Hamilton he would always be part of the family.
“Lewis, that was the drive of a world champion,” he said after the finish, assuring the driver that Mercedes would cheer for him on those occasions when they couldn’t win.
The season has not been all smooth sailing, with Hamilton frustrated by his car’s performance and his own difficulties in qualifying.
He also admitted that the long goodbye to Mercedes had been “massively” harder than he expected.
“It’s a beautiful day, a very strange feeling,” he said before Sunday’s driver parade around the circuit. “I can’t really put into words what I’m feeling at the moment, but I think ultimately just gratitude.”