*After 12 seasons, 84 victories, and six championships, Lewis Hamilton is putting a cap on the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history.
The Blast reports the British auto racing driver parted ways with Mercedes on Dec. 8 after finishing in fourth place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi from starting at 16th.
“What started out as a leap of faith turned a journey into the history books,” Hamilton told his team after crossing the finish line.
From there, Hamilton signed off on a memorable note by doing some celebratory donuts for the crowd and climbing out of his car to give a double thumbs-up as the crowd chanted his name.
The end of Hamilton’s alliance with Mercedes comes more than a decade after the start of their pairing just ahead of the 2013 season. In February, the racer shocked fans by announcing he would decline his Mercedes contract option. As a result, the new year will signal a new era for Hamilton as he aligns with Ferrari to join the Scuderia team with Charles Leclerc in 2025.
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Noting the occasion, Hamilton took to social media to share his last race with Mercedes. The Instagram video, captioned, “If ‘Still I Rise’ was a Grand Prix @lewishamilton started P16, he finishes a phenomenal P4 in his @mercedesamgf1 swansong!”, was posted by F1 and Mercedes on their respective pages.
Fans of the driver were not shy about their feelings, respect, and support for Hamilton upon entering the next level in his professional life.
“A nice farewell from Mercedes. Hope you’ll be happy and enjoy your life in Ferrari, Lewis! You’re The Best,” one fan voiced while another supporter, summed his emotion up, stating, “The Greatest Ever. The End of an Era. Forever Family,” one person wrote.
The fans’ comments are just a snippet of the reaction towards the end of Hamilton’s long, successful pairing with Mercedes, which was captured in a series of photos and videos on the racer’s Instagram page, with the caption, “TOGETHER WE BELIEVED. ALL LOVE, IT’S BEEN REAL,”
“Legend (goat emoji),” Mercedes driver George Russell wrote on a post that garnered more than 23,000 likes from others who felt the same. “What a legacy,” another person shared, as a fellow racing fan noted how Hamilton’s exit represented a “class end to a historic era. Thank you, Lewis.”
To his Mercedes team, Hamilton reminisced while showing his appreciation to those who were with him through his journey with the automaker.
“We dreamed alone but together, we believed,” he told his race engineer Peter Bonnington and team principal Toto Wolff over the radio. “Thank you for all the courage, the determination and the passion, and for seeing me and supporting me. What started out as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books.”
Taking a humble route, a Hamilton fan, though heartbroken over the end of the driver’s Mercedes chapter, wished him well.
“‘If we can’t win, you should win.’ That’s the hardest goodbye,” the fan relayed said.
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