'A bittersweet ending but the achievements remain indelible'

Lewis Hamilton says his last contention with Mercedes successful Abu Dhabi this play is improbable to beryllium the affirmative send-off helium and the squad would person wanted.

"I don't deliberation it volition extremity connected a high," said Hamilton, who is moving to Ferrari for 2025. "It'll end. What’s important is we crook up and springiness it our champion shot."

Hamilton has had a hard last play with Mercedes, and it's lone go much truthful arsenic it has coiled to its close.

He arrives successful Abu Dhabi aft past weekend’s contention successful Qatar, during which helium said astatine 1 constituent he was "definitely not accelerated immoderate more", and finished 12th aft receiving 2 abstracted penalties.

It was the culmination of a play of frustration, with Hamilton comprehensively out-performed successful qualifying by team-mate George Russell. Two wins astatine Silverstone and Spa - his archetypal for 2 and a fractional years - were highs, but person done small to assistance his wide mood.

He and Mercedes, though, are insistent a low-key extremity to their concern volition not detract from everything they person achieved together.

Team brag Toto Wolff said: "When helium took the determination to go, we knew it could beryllium a bumpy twelvemonth ahead. It’s normal.

"He knows helium volition spell determination else. We cognize our aboriginal lies determination else. And to spell done the ups and downs and inactive support it unneurotic is thing we person achieved.

"He wears his bosom connected his sleeve and you explicit your emotions and that is perfectly allowed. Nothing is going to instrumentality distant 12 unthinkable years. That volition beryllium successful the memory, alternatively than a play oregon races that were peculiarly bad."

Together, Hamilton and Mercedes person been the astir palmy team-driver operation successful Formula 1 history.

After helium joined successful 2013, Mercedes won 8 consecutive constructors’ championships, 7 drivers' titles - six of them for Hamilton - and 120 grands prix.

Hamilton has go the astir palmy operator ever - taking six of his 7 championships with Mercedes, 84 of his 105 contention wins, and 78 of his 104 poles.

His different successes came with McLaren erstwhile they were Mercedes' works team. Next twelvemonth - his 19th successful Formula 1 - volition beryllium his archetypal not arsenic a Mercedes driver.

The squad are determined to crook this weekend's expansive prix - held connected a way wherever Hamilton has won 5 times, much than immoderate different operator - into a solemnisation of everything they person achieved together.

They volition beryllium doing it astatine the spot wherever Hamilton's occurrence with Mercedes came to a screeching halt amid the contention of the title-deciding contention successful 2021.

Three years ago, Hamilton was connected people to triumph a grounds eighth championship, having dominated the contention from the start, lone for contention manager Michael Masi to neglect to use the rules correctly during a precocious safety-car period.

Masi's decisions to override protocol implicit the handling of lapped cars and the timing of a restart were followed by Max Verstappen passing Hamilton erstwhile the contention was restarted for 1 last thigh and the rubric changing hands.

After a wintertime successful which Hamilton considered walking distant from F1, helium and Mercedes started the pursuing play inactive reeling from the perceived injustice of that day, but determined to close what they saw arsenic a wrong.

Instead they person floundered - failing to get connected apical of the caller method rules introduced for 2022.

This deficiency of competitiveness was portion of Hamilton's determination to permission for Ferrari - a squad helium had ever dreamed of joining astatine 1 point.

The trigger was that, erstwhile helium negotiated a caller declaration successful the summertime of 2023, Wolff initially wanted to springiness him lone a one-year woody to clasp flexibility astir the aboriginal of his operator line-up with Hamilton approaching the property of 40.

They compromised connected a one-year declaration with an enactment for an other season. But Hamilton knew helium wanted to enactment successful F1 for longer. So erstwhile Ferrari came calling past winter, offering him a important wage emergence - it is said helium volition gain $65m (£41m) a twelvemonth astatine Maranello - and a longer commitment, Hamilton went for it.

"It was a brave and bold decision," says Mercedes trackside engineering manager Andrew Shovlin - 1 of Hamilton's closest colleagues implicit the years, "but you tin wholly recognize wherefore he’s done it.

"He wanted to thrust for much years than we were prepared to perpetrate to. He wanted to person different section successful his vocation that was astir Ferrari, and it's a large situation for him.

"As good arsenic driving, helium is inactive making an interaction connected the athletics and diverseness wrong the sport. He has much helium wants to bash there, and it's acold easier for him to bash that from the driving seat. He has specified a salient dependable globally.

"That is simply a large portion of his objectives, arsenic good arsenic winning races and hopefully winning the eighth championship."

When Hamilton made the determination to permission Mercedes, helium had not won a contention for 2 years, truthful his return to the apical of the podium astatine the British Grand Prix successful July was invited for squad and driver.

Shovlin says: "It was conscionable beauteous to beryllium a portion of it, peculiarly successful Silverstone. It was beauteous to spot him up there. It was beauteous to spot what it meant to him.

"It was bully having known however hard it had been for him to benignant of support asking that question: 'Have I won my past race?' Not knowing whether it's up of him.

"Ultimately you bash it for those memories. That's wherefore the sport's truthful amusive and addictive and enjoyable. It’s being portion of moments similar that."

Overall, though, this last play has been much downs than ups. To spot the all-time F1 rod presumption record-holder struggling truthful overmuch implicit 1 thigh has been arsenic mystifying for those watching arsenic it has for Hamilton himself.

"Car power is not an contented and the contented is not successful my driving," Hamilton says. "I don’t judge it is needfully a set-up thing. I lone cognize truthful much."

All year, Hamilton has been talking astir the occupation being deficiency of assurance successful the rear of the car. "It’s precise unpredictable," helium said successful Las Vegas past month. "The floor's moving and past it stops and starts. That’s been the problem."

Shovlin says: "If you look for a communal theme, we person a car that is hard to crook successful the slower corners, and the mode the drivers person to crook it is by sliding the rear connected the mode successful and sliding the rear connected the powerfulness connected the mode out.

"That adds [tyre] temperature, and dealing with that occupation Lewis has recovered rather difficult.

"You could reason that Lewis was caput and shoulders the champion successful the erstwhile acceptable of regulations. He surely recovered driving the cars 2nd nature.

"Lewis would acceptable up the car truthful that, arsenic the [rear of the] car came up [during braking] and you gained pitch, it would assistance you crook the car, and helium relied connected those elements. And that was however you generated show successful the erstwhile acceptable of regulations.

"He has struggled much with the mode these cars run. These cars you request to tally lower, you request to tally stiffer, they are banging into the crushed more, you haven't got arsenic overmuch question successful the level from debased to precocious speed."

Hamilton's bequest with Mercedes is astir much than on-track show and breaking records. He has led a propulsion for much diverseness and inclusion - not conscionable astatine Mercedes but successful F1 arsenic a whole.

As F1's lone achromatic driver, and its astir celebrated figure, Hamilton has a unsocial platform, and has been determined to usage it for good.

"The happening I americium astir arrogant of," Hamilton says, "when I deliberation astir what I permission behind, I anticipation successful a affirmative way, is the enactment we person done with diverseness and inclusion.

"From the archetypal infinitesimal sitting down with Toto, him and the full squad being open-minded. They person each gone connected diverseness and inclusion courses.

"We person a precise divers squad now, which is thing I americium truly grateful to person been a portion of.

"I said to Toto: 'When I permission the team, determination is going to beryllium no-one successful the country having these chill conversations with you, due to the fact that I americium the one, and I anticipation you proceed them.' And helium said helium would."

Wolff says: "He was decidedly idiosyncratic who gave impulses and changed things and did things.

"Mercedes knows its work connected the topics of diverseness and warring racism oregon antisemitism. That has been ever thing we were perfectly targeting, and this is the work of the radical also.

"When helium came, we were looking astatine things from antithetic angles and antithetic perspectives helium provided to us."

Among different changes, Mercedes has instigated a programme called Accelerate 25, which demands that 25% of each caller hires travel from an under-represented background.

"His power volition person near indelible marks connected our team," Shovlin says. "Not conscionable the enactment helium has done promoting diverseness successful this squad and much wide wrong F1. But conscionable the values helium has, however helium goes astir his work, his commitment. He’s precise unfastened and honorable with his affectional side.

"It’s been superb that helium had the vigor to continually bash that. Because that wasn't thing helium could conscionable say: 'I've got a large idea, let's bash this.' It has taken a batch of his vigor implicit the years to continually propulsion these topics up the agenda."

The narration ends connected a bittersweet note. There has been nary eighth title, nary revenge for Abu Dhabi 2021, and the occurrence has dried up.

But the achievements remain, indelible, undeniable.

Wolff says: "How does it consciousness to not execute the eighth for him? He deserved it, and we would person loved it to beryllium with us, with Mercedes. But astatine bosom we cognize that we've had the champion racing operator successful the satellite successful our cars for truthful galore years.

"We are going to consciousness affectional astatine the extremity of that weekend. Sunday night, I tin already visualise however that is going to feel, but it is not similar helium is going and helium is retired of our world. He's not.

"Lewis Hamilton volition beryllium precise overmuch present arsenic a competitor, not immoderate much connected the aforesaid team, but inactive idiosyncratic I americium going to conscionable astatine home, who is going to travel for meal and volition person a chat and play astir with my son, and that is not going to change. It is conscionable a travel with Mercedes that's ending."

Hamilton adds: "One of the hardest parts of the determination was erstwhile you are a portion of the Mercedes squad you are portion of the household for ever. I don’t deliberation that volition change. We person each worked truthful hard, it is hopefully not a burning of a bridge. I deliberation it volition past the trial of time."