Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton bid an emotional farewell to his 12-year stint at Mercedes with a heartfelt final team radio message with longtime race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington and team boss Toto Wolff.
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As Hamilton brought his Mercedes home for the final time after spectacularly working through the field to finish fourth after starting the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi in 16th, the legendary Formula One driver-team trio shared the love with one another.
“It’s been epic working with you,” ‘Bono’ said to Hamilton via team radio.
“Lewis, that was the drive of a world champion. The drive of a world champion. Amazing,” Wolff added.
Hamilton replied: “Thanks Toto. That was fun!”
‘Bono’ said: “Stellar job today, bud. It’s been a pleasure all the way.”
“The pleasure has been mine. We dreamed alone but together we believed,” Hamilton responded.
“As a team we achieved things. Thankyou for the courage, the determination and the passion to support me.
“What started out as a leap of faith ended up as a journey into the history books.
“We did everything together. I am so grateful to everyone at the factory.
“From the bottom of my heart, thankyou.”
Bono replied: “Thankyou Lewis. I am so grateful to be a part of this chapter of your life. Best of luck for the next one.”
Hamilton said: “I love you guys, I really do!”
Wolff said: “We love you too. You will always be a part of the family. If we can’t win, you should win.”
Speaking after the race, Hamilton reflected that hearing an iconic instruction from ‘Bono’ during the race was the moment that hit home that this was his final time behind the wheel of a Mercedes car.
The 39-year-old will team up with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari next year after winning all of 105 F1 victories with Mercedes, and he was desperate give his team a memorable farewell.
“When [’Bono’] said it was ‘Hammer Time’, I did notice in the moment, I was like, ‘that’s the last time I’m going to hear that’,” Hamilton said.
“It really clicked for me in that moment. But a really, really hard race, naturally, from where I was [on the grid].
“The first stint was really, really difficult. I wasn’t losing hope, but I was just like, ‘ah, it’s not going as well as I thought it would’. But I just didn’t give up, kept pushing, ‘come on we can get there’. Switched onto the [medium] tyres and the car came alive. But I had a massive gap to close, so I just focused on getting just absolutely everything from the car and not giving up.
“I just wanted to finish on as much as a high, and just give every ounce of me to the team as they’ve given to me all of these years.”
Post-race, Hamilton marked the end of the most successful partnership in F1 history with celebratory doughnuts followed by time kneeling beside his Mercedes W15 to soak in the moment.
The Englishman said some of his memories of the minutes after the race are already a blur, but he did take time to remember all the success he and Mercedes have had together, and think about how much he is going to miss the team.
“When I stopped the car I just wanted to embrace the moment, because it’s the last time I’m going to step into a Mercedes and represent them, it’s been the greatest honour of my life,” Hamilton said.
“I mean every moment that I’ve got in the car this week, I’ve known that it’s one of the last and it’s been really hard to let go. I’m proud of every race, every pole position, every win we’ve had together, every championship, so when I knelt next to it I was just giving thanks, firstly thanking my own spirit for continuing to push, thanking everyone that powered and built that car. I’m proud of everyone.
“I’m going to miss them – I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss them, it’s going to be a huge amount. I’ve worked with them every day for the past 12 years. There’s a lot of love within this team, and that’s not going anywhere.”
Despite the heartwarming finale to his time at Mercedes, Hamilton admitted it has been a very challenging year, knowing that the partnership was coming to an end.
It was announced in February that Hamilton has joined Ferrari from 2025 onwards on a multi-year deal, and he said during the year there have been several awkward moments as a result, but was pleased with the ending.
“It’s been a really turbulent year, probably the longest year of my life, I would say, because we’ve known from the beginning that we’re leaving,” Hamilton said.
“It’s like a relationship when you’ve told whoever the counterpart is that you’re leaving, but you’re living together for a whole year. Lots of ups and downs emotionally, but we finished off with a high today.”
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