Formula 1

“I’ve not been at my best in dealing with those emotions” : Lewis Hamilton ahead of his final race with Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The dreaded day for Mercedes fans is upon them, as Lewis Hamilton begins his preparations for his last race with the Silver Arrows, after 12 long years of winning world championships and building a legacy with them. But the seven-time world champion has only recently come across his feelings of what it actually is like to leave after the final race ends. The Briton was already a Ferrari man even before the start of the season, and since then has had his hands full from something or the other. But now that the realisation is starting to hit, Hamilton recently opened up about how he underestimated the emotional level of difficulty of leaving the German team behind after so many successful years with the people whose faces he has seen every day, starting from Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff. “The first meeting with Toto at the beginning of the year was awkward, of course it was awkward from the get-go.” Hamilton said. “The day after I took the team paintballing and they had just found out … I got a lot of shots and had loads of bruises. People went in on me that day! I anticipated it would be difficult but massively underestimated how difficult. It was straining on the relationship very early on. Took time for people to get past it.” the Briton revealed that it was initially hard for the people close to him to take in his departure from Mercedes. Besides other people, the Briton himself has not had the greatest of seasons due to poor mistakes during qualifications or simply because his car was not up to the consistent standards. Still, Hamilton was able to win two Grand Prix and has showed glimpses of his usual self throughout the year. But he admits that on a personal note, he was not at his best and wants us to understand his humanity, just like every other person. “For my own self, it’s been a very emotional year for me and I think I’ve not been at my best in dealing with those emotions,” he added. “I think you’ve all seen the worst of me and the best of me and I’m not going to apologise for either because I’m only human and I’m not always going to get it right.” “I would definitely say this year has been one of the worst in terms of handling it from my side, which I’ll try to be better at. I hope the good and the highs far outweigh the negatives in terms of how I’ve behaved.” Hamilton explained. Lewis Hamilton also acknowledged the support he has received from people close throughout his career, and is thankful for them in being a part of his illustrious journey. “I just remember the good times and I’ve built some incredible relationships. When you go through a season together with so many people, not only on those weekends you are riding highs and lows together but also in their personal lives, through marriages, through divorces, through loss of family members, through cancer, through all sorts.” “You are going through all these moments with people and it’s a really beautiful journey you go on together. Being there for so long, the emotions run so deep.” the Briton said. With Lewis Hamilton’s prime years behind him, he will leave a part of him at Mercedes behind as well, but next year will offer us something much more than the Briton just having a change of uniform colours, as he will attempt to start his journey with the Italian team in the best way possible, by breaking the record of the number of world championships. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I hope they look back and say… ‘maybe he moved the needle a little bit’” : Lewis Hamilton discusses about his time with Mercedes  Lewis Hamilton drove his penultimate race with the Silver Arrows before leaving for Ferrari. With Mercedes, the Briton has achieved the status of the greatest F1 driver of all time, and one look at his accolades definitely justifies that. Apart from winning six world championships, eight straight constructor’s titles and 154 podium finishes, Lewis Hamilton’s name is renowned worldwide. His achievements are unparalleled, from on-track dominance, cultural and social impacts, various businesses and above all, the inspiration he is for young fans and up and comers. When asked recently about how he would remember the 12 years he spent with Mercedes, the Briton reflected on the successes of Mercedes and how he has helped them become one of the best constructors ever. But as for himself, Hamilton wants to be remembered for more than just his performances on track. “I get asked about legacy a lot, but honestly, I don’t really think about that. I’ve tried to hold the brand to the highest level throughout the years and everything that I do hopefully has reflected the brand.” Hamilton said to the Doha News. “I hope that in 10 or 20 years, they look back and say, ‘maybe he moved the needle a little bit’, to enable people from all shapes and sizes, all different backgrounds, religion, gender, to get into the sport where they perhaps wouldn’t have been able to do before.” the Briton added. While his dominance has occasionally drawn criticism for making the sport less competitive, Hamilton’s commitment to excellence and advocacy for change ensures his place as an iconic and transformative figure not just in F1, but in all of sports. Simply as one of the best ever. “It’s a much better car than last year so I’m hoping this weekend will be different” : Lewis Hamilton wants to carry on with the momentum after success in Vegas The seven-time world champion was placed tenth after qualification but managed to finish at second place. It was a much-needed win for the Briton and Mercedes to end the drought they had been in after the summer break. With just two races left, the Brackley-based team now want to finish on a high note, and this morale might also spoil some plans for the other constructors.  For Lewis Hamilton, this the best possible chance he has to get another, and possibly his last victory with the Silver Arrows before he joins the Italians. His record is sublime in Qatar as he describes the track as ‘amazing to drive on’. “It’s a much better car than last year so I’m hoping this weekend will be different — maybe something special,” “This track is amazing to drive and it felt good. Being that it is such a fast circuit I don’t think it’s the easiest of circuits to follow, but it’s good for the tyres,” the 39-year-old explained. Qatar was also one of the four races Hamilton had to win in order to win the championship over Max Verstappen in 2021. Although that dream was crushed in the final minutes in Abu Dhabi, the experience could certainly come in handy. But when asked about that, the Briton said he does not even remember it. “I barely remember last week, I don’t remember the race but I remember the qualifying lap was pretty special.” Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“That’s been something I’m most proud of” : Lewis Hamilton opens up about conversations beyond the track during his time at Mercedes During the later stages of his career, Lewis Hamilton has become an important figure outside the F1 world as well, as he has been doing a lot of work for the benefit of the underprivileged while also being an advocate of social and cultural aspects. Now that the Briton is leaving Mercedes, where many of these operations first initiated with the help of Team Principal Toto Wolff, he recently revealed that he hopes and expects the Austrian to continue this work even after he is gone, for the well-fair of others. “I think the thing that I’m most proud of when I think about what I leave behind, I hope, in a positive way, is the work we’ve done with diversity inclusion. That’s been something I’m most proud of.” Hamilton said to PlanetF1.com. The seven-time world champion talked about how literally everyone he talked to was in favour of this great motive, and he has full faith that Wolff along with the others will continue doing this work even after he is gone to Maranello. “From the first moment sitting down with Toto, him being open-minded, for the whole team being open-minded, all team members going through diversity inclusion training, actually creating a diversity team. “We did Ignite, actually really putting their money where their mouth is and investing and we have a very, very diverse team now, which is something that I’m really grateful for being a part of. “And when I sit with Toto, I’m like, ‘Look, when I leave, there’s going to be no one in the room that’s going to have these difficult conversations with you, but I hope that you continue that’, and obviously he will.” Hamilton states his belief over the Mercedes CEO. Lewis Hamilton talks about his final years in Mercedes The Briton and Mercedes together have had over the top success together in the last decade, as they dominated everyone else in both singles and constructor’s world championships. The name Lewis Hamilton became a life of its own, winning six more world championships and matching the record of the great Michael Schumacher, while also completely sweeping the constructor’s championships from 2014-21.  Obviously, his last few years with the Silver Arrows was not anything ground breaking, but the Briton believes that the fact that they are still showing up from time to time says it all. “And then on the track, I think naturally it’s our show of resilience over the years and the continued pursuit of perfection,” Hamilton continued. “I loved that journey. “These last few years have not been obviously spectacular in terms of performances, but there’s a lot of great things we’ve done away from the track, particularly. And again, I think this has been a real test of time to show how resilient we are. We’re still here. We’re still showing up. We’re still giving it our all. And that’s something to be proud of.” the 39-year-old explained. Lewis Hamilton will be leaving with a lifetime worth of memories with the Brackley-based team, as his new chapter at 40 years old with his favourite childhood team is about to start. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“It’s not something I have a grudge at all” : Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton going ‘behind his back’ during Ferrari transfer Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari broke the internet as it came out so unexpectedly, that too at the start of the new F1 season. The Briton still had a year left on his contract with the Silver Arrows but chose to go a different direction for probably the final chapter of his illustrious career. The news obviously shocked the fans, but it was recently revealed that even Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff did not have much of an idea of his star player moving to the Maranello-based team, until the outgoing Ferrari man Carlos Sainz’s father revealed the situation to him two weeks before. The Austrian was recently asked about whether this move by Hamilton caused distrust between the two, he was empathic enough to put himself in the Briton’s shoes and said he would have also been under pressure to first talk it out to him or other Mercedes officials. “I think when you need to set a standard for yourself and I think it was such a difficult situation for him, because our team wasn’t doing as good as we expected from ourselves, and I think the opportunity came up quickly over the winter and […] he probably didn’t have enough time to say, ‘well how am I tackling this with Toto or with Mercedes.’” Wolff said on ESPN. “So, it’s not something I have a grudge at all. If we could replay it in a better way, which… there is no better way because he was under pressure you know in the summer, in the winter, so maybe we would have had conversations.” the Austrian added. Toto Wolff spares a few words on Lewis Hamilton’s departure While George Russell got the victory at Las Vegas, the seven-time world champion did a great job to come back from a series of poor performances, coming second even when he started at tenth place. With just two races left in his 12-year long Mercedes career, the time is coming for the Briton to say goodbye to the team where he became a worldwide superstar. Toto Wolff also said a few words about Hamilton’s departure, saying how grateful he is for this lengthy partnership. “There is no overwhelming emotion now that this is ending… [but] the last race together will be quite a thing because we had this wonderful partnership for such a long time. But having said that, Lewis is not going to disappear. Lewis is going to be on the grid next year with a Ferrari. We are not losing the person, we are just losing the driver. But we embark on a new future.” Wolff said. Lewis Hamilton will be starting at Ferrari soon, and we could see him in the Italian colours as soon as early February. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I should have been on pole but I’m not, so it is what it is” : Lewis Hamilton speaks after yet another disappointing qualification weekend To nobody’s surprise, qualification has yet again hindered Lewis Hamilton’s chances in Las Vegas as he will be starting at tenth position on Sunday.  On what was looking like a very promising pole position with the Briton topping both qualifying sessions on Friday while also being the fastest in Q2, it was during Q3 which let down Hamilton’s chances, as his whole lap time was deleted due to mistakes he rightfully admitted was his fault.  While Lewis Hamilton congratulated teammate George Russell for taking the pole position, he believed that he should have been the one instead. “I should have been on pole but I’m not, so it is what it is. C’est la vie, you live to fight another day,” “It is what it is. It’s been a good weekend so far so I’ll give it my best shot tomorrow. Congrats to George.” Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports. This now brings the lead to 17-5 between the Mercedes duo in terms of qualifying ahead of each other, with Hamilton on the bitter side of it. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took second place and surprisingly, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly came third. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris soon followed. “I’m really quite far back so I’ll just see what I can do from there” : Lewis Hamilton still has some faith left Car troubles have not left the side of the seven-time world champion just yet, as he revealed how the handling of his Mercedes felt different as compared to other parts of the qualifying rounds. “The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason. But I had it in all the other sessions,” “But ultimately I didn’t put the laps together.” the 39-year-old admitted his mistake. “I’m really quite far back so I’ll just see what I can do from there, degradation is going to be key. We had an eventful race here last year.” Hamilton still has faith going into the race as the underdog. The Briton is once again into the deep end, as starting at tenth is never the first choice for any driver. But still, it is not the end of the world as Hamilton has shown some great speed during Friday’s session. Moreover, we have also already seen the likes of Max Verstappen, who started on grid 17 in Sao Paulo, winning the whole thing in the end. So yes, the seven-time world champion obviously has what it takes but it will surely be a tough race. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I’m going to give it absolutely everything for these last few races” : Lewis Hamilton wants to leave Mercedes on a positive note To say things have not worked out well for the Briton this season would be an understatement. On what was looking like a solid last season as a 39-year-old with the Silver Arrows, it has been anything but that since the summer break ended, and the Brazil GP clearly summarized everything that has gotten wrong with Lewis Hamilton this season. Lewis Hamilton finished tenth place in Sao Paulo as he described it as a ‘disaster of a weekend’ on the team radio. “If this is the last time I get to perform it was a shame it wasn’t great but [I am] grateful for you.” “In the moment, that’s how I felt. I didn’t really want to come back after that weekend but that’s only natural.” Hamilton said when asked about his comments on the team radio. From poor qualification rounds to car troubles, it seems like something or the other has always bothered the Briton to fully unleash his known potential of finishing races well while climbing up the rankings as he goes. Currently seventh in the driver’s rankings, it is certainly not what the Briton hoped his final season with Mercedes would be, where he won six of his seven world championships while transcending the whole sport on his way to become the greatest F1 driver of all time.  Ferrari and 2025 cannot come sooner for the Briton, but before that he has some unfinished business left with the German team. “I want to give them the best that I can in these next races” : Lewis Hamilton is not backing down without a fight The 39-year-old seems hell bent on completing his Mercedes chapter in the best way he can, as after the disappointment in Sao Paulo, he revealed how he still loves the whole team regardless of him leaving, and that he wants to give it his all in the final races. “In the heat of the moment, for sure I’d much rather be on the beach and chilling and ‘I don’t need to do this’.” the Briton said after the Brazil GP. “It wasn’t a great feeling in that moment but I’m here, I’m standing strong and I’m going to give it absolutely everything for these last few races. Nothing can take me down. I’ve got a team that I genuinely still love and even though I’m leaving, I want to give them the best that I can in these next races. If they provide a car that wants to stay on track, then hopefully we’ll have a better result.” the seven-time world champion added. Winning or losing in these last few races would not really affect Hamilton’s legacy, as he is without a doubt the greatest driver of at least his generation. But the Briton’s hunger even at 39 years of age is what differentiates him with the rest. It is also worthy to note that he won the British and Belgian GP this year which showcases how he still has what it takes to be on top. Regardless of how this season has turned out to be for Lewis Hamilton; Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi await him as the final stretch of his Mercedes chapter has arrived. Also Read: “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari

“I heard the bells ringing two weeks before” : Toto Wolff reveals the moment he came to know Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes for Ferrari While the rumors surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari were already present back in previous seasons, in the end they were just rumors, as nobody thought that the Briton would switch teams, that too at his age. We all know how the announcement of Hamilton joining the Prancing Horses broke the internet, but it was recently revealed that not even Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff had much of an idea about this movie, as he came to know just a few weeks before the public as well, and not in the best of ways. On the ‘High Performance Podcast’, Toto Wolff explained that he did not get to know about the news from Lewis Hamilton himself, but outgoing Ferrari man’s father, Carlos Sainz Sr., two weeks before the Briton attempted to break the news. “I heard the bells ringing two weeks before [Lewis told me the news]. The old man Sainz called me and said, ‘This is what’s happening’.” Wolff said. “And then there were a few drivers that rang me up that didn’t before, so I thought, ‘Okay, there’s something going on there’. I sent a text to [Ferrari boss] Fred Vasseur saying, ‘You’re taking our driver?’ – didn’t get any response, very unusual for Fred, he’s a good friend. So, I saw it coming.” the Mercedes boss added. Toto Wolff speaks about contacting Lewis Hamilton to change his mind and important advice from Pep Guardiola Wolff was obviously as surprised as any hearing about this move, but explained that he did not even bother initiating any contact with the Briton in those two weeks, as he wanted Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur and Hamilton himself to let him know what exactly was going on. When quizzed about if he took this decision of Hamilton’s to heart, the Austrian revealed that he had much bigger issues that he needed to handle during that point of time. “I think that was a situation that I just wanted to see how it was happening, and leave it to him and to Fred to tell me that they were doing this.” said Wolff. “I had much worse in my life happening, like real drama and trauma, this is not even moving the needle. Lewis is a friend and will forever be a friend – we’ve had 12 years in the team together, so that was just an unusual thought of ‘this is ending’, but not challenging in whichever way. “So no, that wasn’t a problem. It’s just a new situation, it has risks and opportunities – risks in the sense [of] how do I inform the sponsors as quickly as possible – because it was leaking – and on the other side, what are we doing about next year?” the 52-year-old added. The Austrian also addressed on the fact of why he did not even try to persuade Hamilton into staying, and brought in key parallels from a conversation he had with his friend a while back, football icon and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. “I think if someone decides to go then you need to let them go, I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago – he’s a friend – and I said, ‘What do you do if this and that player leaves?’, and he said, ‘What do you mean [what do] I do?’. “I said, ‘Well, do you try to convince them to stay?’. [He said], ‘No. If somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better or earn more, you’ve just got to let them go’. “And it is something I embrace in the same way here – somebody wants to go then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.” Wolff revealed. In the end, it all did work out for Wolff and co., as they have always been quite transparent with the Briton. Mercedes and Wolff now embark onto a new era in the team’s history, with the young gun duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to take charge in 2025. Also Read: “It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season” : Lewis Hamilton has high hopes for the remainder of the year