“Not the greatest feeling,” reckons Hamilton ahead of his departure from Mercedes

Ahead of his final race with Mercedes, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton explained that while he is “pretty calm” at the moment, he is eager to give it all at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to bring his career at Mercedes to a close positively.

Lewis Hamilton announced his shock departure from Mercedes on the 1st of February. The announcement caught the Formula One community by surprise, as the seven-time world champion was set to race for the Brackley-based outfit until the end of 2025.

However, an exit clause in his contract allowed Hamilton to leave the team in 2025 if he wished, and the Briton elected to terminate his contract at the end of the current season and seek for a new challenge at Ferrari next year.

Hamilton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, tied with the great German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on the number of world championship titles.

Speaking of his feelings ahead of his final race with Mercedes, Hamilton added: “Pretty calm at the moment. Feeling positive and excited just to give it all this weekend. Every moment, like through the year, it’s been, you know, every single race has been obviously the last time I’ll race and be in that specific place with the team and I think today, already from like the briefings that we’ve had, like, you’re sitting there and you’re realising these are the last moments with the team.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling. It’s not the greatest, of course, but I think mostly I’m just really proud of what we’ve achieved. And I have so much pride in this team.

Reflecting on his 12-year spell at Mercedes, Hamilton singled out the 2024 Australian Grand Prix as his best memory from his time at the Brackley-based outfit.

“I think it’s the smiles, when we’ve had the success. I think it’s those moments. Like I remember one particular engineer, for example, I remember our first win in Australia in 2014, I think it was Australia, and I just remember him being in tears when we were on the podium.

“It’s those moments that I take with me. It’s the emotions that we had in Silverstone this year. It’s all the good bits. Naturally, you mostly remember the good bits.

“And I think it’s just the… I’m just incredibly proud, but also just so grateful to every single individual, both that are here at the track, but also back at the factory that have just worked tirelessly and, you know, been supporting me for all these years from day one.”

Asked to reveal how different this moment feels to when he left McLaren at the end of 2012, the 105-time F1 race winner explained that his exit from Mercedes would be more emotional compared to what he felt when he departed from the Woking-based squad.

“If I’m honest, I don’t really remember the… Obviously, I remember meeting Niki. And I remember making the decision. But I don’t really remember the final days, if I’m really honest. I don’t really know. I’ve got a really bad memory, as you know. It definitely wasn’t as painful and difficult as this year has been in terms of the emotions.

“And I think because it was at the end of the year, it was much quicker and there wasn’t enough time for it to really settle in for anyone, I think, within the team. Yeah, this one is much more emotional because I’ve been with the team so long and we’ve been through so much together,” added Hamilton.