Inside Lewis Hamilton’s emotional Mercedes goodbye: Formula One legend bids final farewell to team after incredible 12-year spell… as Brit reveals how he is preparing for switch to Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton has said a final farewell to his former Mercedes team as he prepares to join Ferrari ahead of the next Formula 1 season.
Hamilton shook the racing world when he announced ahead of the 2024 season that the coming year would be his final with the team with which he won six of his seven world championships.
His move was a key part of the season, which ended last weekend in Abu Dhabi, where the 39-year-old worked his way through the grid to finish fourth, just ahead of teammate George Russell.
He cut an emotional figure as he said goodbye to the Mercedes team during the race, and the farewell continued the following week, ending at Brackley on Friday.
The headquarters of the Mercedes team, officially called the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, is in the West Northamptonshire town, and Hamilton and the other faces of the team were there this week.
Joined on stage by team boss Toto Wolff and Russell, Hamilton took the microphone to thank those at Mercedes headquarters for all the team’s hard work behind the scenes during his time with the manufacturer.
Lewis Hamilton said an emotional farewell to Mercedes as he prepared to join Ferrari
Last weekend he drove his last race in Abu Dhabi – winning a total of 84 for Mercedes
Reports have suggested the 39-year-old is taking Italian lessons ahead of the move
‘You know I’m leaving, [but] You guys are going to go and have so much more success in the future because this is an incredible group of people,” he said. ‘There is so much talent here and so much passion.
“Anyone would be lucky to work with you. I hope that when I eventually stop racing I can come back and visit you all, and I know we can always look back on these good memories, what a journey.
“There is no driver in the world who has had this experience with the team, and it makes it much harder to let go. But I take the most beautiful memories with me. You have lived in my dream, and hopefully I partly live in yours too.
“So thank you so very, very much from the bottom of my heart, and also thank you to my family for all the dedication all these years, so thank you so much to everyone and God bless you.”
He also shared a number of photos from the day on Instagram, including a group shot, all six world championship winning cars in a row and an open-top ride.
The caption read: ‘This is the real deal. After Abu Dhabi, after Kuala Lumpur and after Stuttgart it ends here. This has been my home. To the thousands of people who work at Brackley and Brixworth, you have been friends and teammates and I can’t thank you enough for all the hard work and support. It was real.”
Also at the farewell were all of Hamilton’s trophies during his time with the team. He won a total of 84 races in a Mercedes car.
He was tearful as he left the factory for the last time, cheered by workers and apparently some fans as a large fireworks display went off as the evening arrived.
He cut an emotional figure as he left the Mercedes factory in Brackley for the final time
He will join Charles Leclerc (pictured) in wearing red from next season
Hamilton will join Ferrari next year on a £40 million-a-year contract, swapping white and black for red in a look that fans will take some time to get used to.
According to Gazetta dello SportMeanwhile, Hamilton has taken Italian lessons before 2025, which is expected to help him acclimatise to the team.
Now leaving one team behind, he will look to build a strong working relationship with the Ferrari group based in Maranello, in the province of Modena and in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna.
He becomes Charles Leclerc’s new teammate and replaces Carlos Sainz, while rookie Kimi Antonelli takes his place in the Silver Arrows.