Hamilton takes part in a farewell event for the Mercedes F1 Team at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on Dec 10. — AFP
AFTER 12 seasons, 246 Grands Prix, 84 victories and six drivers championships with Mercedes, the curtain came down on one of the most storied periods in Formula One on Dec 8.
Lewis Hamilton bowed out of Mercedes, leaving behind a legacy on and off the track. Next year, at 40, he will “fulfil a childhood dream,” he said, and drive for Ferrari.
“We’ve had an absolutely incredible journey together,” he said of Mercedes.
“We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in, and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.”
On joining Ferrari, Hamilton said he “felt like it was time to start a new chapter” in his career.
“It was not that difficult to convince Lewis” to join, said Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal.
“It is a move that has been 20 years in the making,” he added, referring to when Hamilton drove for Vasseur’s team in the Formula Three Euro Series in 2005.
“At the time, he was tied to McLaren-Mercedes,” Vasseur said, “but he already had in mind that, sooner or later, he would go to Ferrari.”
Hamilton will team up with Leclerc at Ferrari next year. — AFP
Hamilton departs Mercedes as the most successful driver in the team’s history, and they will miss him.
“He said he needed change, and I can understand that,” said Toto Wolff, the team principal.
“We’ve been together 12 years, and we’ve had tremendous success.
“He’s the most successful driver. We’ve had this sensational journey together, and that’s something that will go down in the history books, and also in the Mercedes history books.”
Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 after six years with McLaren, where he won his first championship, in 2008.
Andrew Shovlin, track-side engineering director with Mercedes, said Hamilton “has been a massive part of the growth of the team.”
From 2014, after a change in the power-unit regulations, Mercedes dominated. The team won eight consecutive constructors titles and Hamilton six drivers championships in seven years.
He missed a record eighth in 2021 when he was beaten by Max Verstappen of Red Bull on the final lap of the last race.
“He’s achieved such an amount that it all just becomes part of the team’s legacy,” Shovlin said in an interview in November. “When he arrived, the first thing you saw was the speed, the determination.
“Over the years, what has been almost endless is his desire and ability to reinvent himself over the winter, to learn from mistakes, to improve, to look for the areas where he would find another gain to beat his competitors. He just kept getting better and better for so long.”
Hamilton (right) tries to overtake Leclerc during the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix on Nov 30. — AP
Shovlin said Hamilton “has a phobia of losing that drives his work ethic.” From a technical perspective, he has “a great ability to drive around problems in the car.”
“Whatever the problem, whatever the conditions, whatever the limitation, he seemed to have a tool for the job,” Shovlin said.
Ron Meadows, the sporting director with Mercedes, said Hamilton is unique because he “can departmentalise his life.”
“When he comes racing, he’s fully focused on his racing,” Meadows said in an interview in November. “Then you’ll see a social media post that he’s 12 hours away on a plane somewhere doing something completely different. He’s got so much going on in his life, and that’s what makes him special.
“When he’s at a racetrack, he’s all over it. When he’s at the factory, he’s all over it, but he knows when he can relax, and some drivers can’t do that. That’s probably the most unique part about him.”
When Hamilton doesn’t have a great session or he makes a mistake, he beats himself up, but “the impressive thing about him is the next morning you wouldn’t have known it had happened,” Meadows said.
“I’d say 100% of the time, he bounces back really strong.”
During his time with Mercedes, Hamilton has built a portfolio of interests – notably music, fashion and film. He has a production company involved in the upcoming movie “F1,” starring Brad Pitt. He is also part of the ownership group of the Denver Broncos.
Hamilton has also worked to improve diversity, equity and inclusion inside Mercedes and in motorsport.
In late 2020, Hamilton and Mercedes started Accelerate 25, a five-year programme aimed at getting at least 25% of all new team employees from underrepresented groups.
The next year, Hamilton and Mercedes formed Ignite, a charitable partnership to increase the representation of people from under-represented backgrounds in British motorsport.
It later merged into Hamilton’s Mission 44 charity, which seeks to transform the lives of young people from under-served backgrounds by narrowing opportunity gaps in education and employment.
“When I think about what I leave behind, the thing I am most proud of is the work we’ve done with diversity,” Hamilton said. “We have a very diverse team now.”
Hamilton said Wolff and the rest of the team were open to his ideas.
“The team put their money where their mouth is and invested.”
Hamilton has struggled for the past three seasons at Mercedes. He has won only two Grands Prix in that period, both this year.
Vasseur said Hamilton “will add value” and that “he comes to win, not on vacation. I’m convinced we have everything to try.”
Hamilton will be scratching a longtime itch.
“For every driver growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, I think probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up, and you see the driver in the red cockpit and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red,” Hamilton said.
“Even as a kid, I used to play as Michael in that car,” referring to video games, “so it definitely is a dream, and I’m really excited about it.” — NYT
