'A bittersweet ending but the achievements remain indelible'

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

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

Hamilton has had a difficult last play pinch Mercedes, and it's only go much truthful arsenic it has coiled to its close.

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

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

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

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

"He knows he will spell location else. We cognize our early lies location else. And to spell done the ups and downs and still support it together is thing we person achieved.

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

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

After he 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 successful driver ever - taking six of his 7 championships pinch Mercedes, 84 of his 105 title wins, and 78 of his 104 poles.

His different successes came pinch McLaren erstwhile they were Mercedes' useful team. Next twelvemonth - his 19th successful Formula 1 - will beryllium his first not arsenic a Mercedes driver.

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

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

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

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

After a wintertime successful which Hamilton considered stepping distant from F1, he and Mercedes started the pursuing play still reeling from the perceived injustice of that day, but wished to correct 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 time off for Ferrari - a squad he had ever dreamed of joining astatine 1 point.

The trigger was that, erstwhile he negotiated a caller statement successful the summertime of 2023, Wolff initially wanted to springiness him only a one-year woody to clasp elasticity astir the early of his driver line-up pinch Hamilton approaching the property of 40.

They compromised connected a one-year statement pinch an action for an other season. But Hamilton knew he wanted to enactment successful F1 for longer. So erstwhile Ferrari came calling past winter, offering him a important salary emergence - it is said he will 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 head Andrew Shovlin - 1 of Hamilton's closest colleagues complete the years, "but you tin wholly understand why 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 profession that was astir Ferrari, and it's a awesome situation for him.

"As good arsenic driving, he is still making an effect connected the athletics and diverseness wrong the sport. He has much he wants to do there, and it's acold easier for him to do that from the driving seat. He has specified a salient sound 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 time off Mercedes, he had not won a title 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 beautiful to beryllium a portion of it, peculiarly successful Silverstone. It was beautiful to spot him up there. It was beautiful to spot what it meant to him.

"It was bully having known really difficult 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 do it for those memories. That's why the sport's truthful nosy and addictive and enjoyable. It’s being portion of moments for illustration that."

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

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

All year, Hamilton has been talking astir the problem being deficiency of assurance successful the rear of the car. "It’s very unpredictable," he 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 difficult to move successful the slower corners, and the measurement the drivers person to move it is by sliding the rear connected the measurement successful and sliding the rear connected the powerfulness connected the measurement out.

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

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

"Lewis would group up the car truthful that, arsenic the [rear of the] car came up [during braking] and you gained pitch, it would thief you move the car, and he relied connected those elements. And that was really you generated capacity successful the erstwhile group of regulations.

"He has struggled much pinch the measurement 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 sewage arsenic overmuch activity successful the level from debased to precocious speed."

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

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

"The point I americium astir proud of," Hamilton says, "when I deliberation astir what I time off behind, I dream successful a affirmative way, is the activity we person done pinch diverseness and inclusion.

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

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

"I said to Toto: 'When I time off the team, location is going to beryllium no-one successful the room having these cool conversations pinch you, because I americium the one, and I dream you proceed them.' And he said he would."

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

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

"When he came, we were looking astatine things from different angles and different perspectives he 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 will person near indelible marks connected our team," Shovlin says. "Not conscionable the activity he has done promoting diverseness successful this squad and much wide wrong F1. But conscionable the values he has, really he goes astir his work, his commitment. He’s very unfastened and honorable pinch his affectional side.

"It’s been superb that he had the power to continually do that. Because that wasn't thing he could conscionable say: 'I've sewage a awesome idea, let's do this.' It has taken a batch of his power complete the years to continually push 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 pinch us, pinch Mercedes. But astatine bosom we cognize that we've had the champion racing driver successful the world 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 really that is going to feel, but it is not for illustration he is going and he is retired of our world. He's not.

"Lewis Hamilton will beryllium very overmuch present arsenic a competitor, not immoderate much connected the aforesaid team, but still personification I americium going to meet astatine home, who is going to travel for meal and will person a chat and play astir pinch my son, and that is not going to change. It is conscionable a travel pinch 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 family for ever. I don’t deliberation that will change. We person each worked truthful hard, it is hopefully not a burning of a bridge. I deliberation it will past the trial of time."