Sir Lewis Hamilton will bid farewell to the Silver Arrow after his final race in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton’s tenure with Mercedes is coming to an end after 12 glorious years. This weekend will be his last race with Mercedes. And he will switch to Ferrari in 2025.
The Brit won 84 races during his tenure and led the team to eight constructors’ championships.
In his debut Grand Prix with Arrow, he finished on the podium. It was a promising start to his career, as he later won his first Grand Prix with Mercedes, the Hungarian GP.
The British driver did not start his career at Mercedes, but instead at McLaren, where he won his first driver’s title in 2008. Later, his career with McLaren declined and he joined Mercedes in 2013. As a result, he won six. Driver titles: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Hamilton is the only driver in Formula One history to break Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships.
In 2021, he was once again leading the way, but this time he was up against a Red Bull rival and eventual four-time world champion: Max Verstappen. The final race of the season was a controversial one, with Mercedes retaining the title as Verstappen beat Hamilton by one point.
Mercedes then dropped down the order, dragging down Hamilton’s form. It has struggled to keep up with other teams, winning just five races in three years, including a winless 2023.
The 39-year-old has had a terrible season with his W15, repeatedly voicing his woes. Although both drivers won two races each, he was consistently ahead of George Russell.
As the season draws to a close, Hamilton will no doubt want to put his pain behind him and reflect on the memories he made with the team that propelled him to the top.
Hamilton now has the opportunity to write a new chapter in his Formula One career at Ferrari, but whether he will go down in history as the record holder remains to be seen.