Hamilton would have fought for win without bollard incident, reckons Mercedes

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says joy at Lewis Hamilton’s charge to fourth in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was tempered by annoyance that he should have been in the victory fight.

Hamilton was taking part in his final race weekend for the Mercedes team after a 12-year stint that had netted six drivers’ titles and 84 victories.

But hopes of a successful send-off, after some promising pace in practice, was derailed in qualifying when Hamilton hit a bollard that had been thrown into the track by Kevin Magnussen in the closing stages of Q1.

The loose cone got stuck under his car and, badly affecting his aerodynamics, meant his lap was ruined and he failed to make it through to Q2.

After starting 16th, Hamilton showed brilliant speed and tyre management on an alternative strategy in the race to grab fourth place on the final lap after a spectacular overtaking move on team-mate George Russell.

While that result provided an uplifting send-off for Hamilton and Mercedes after some struggles in recent events, Wolff said that he could not get it out of his head that without the bad luck with the bollard, the seven-time champion should have been right at the front.

“I always try to be analytical and, if the bollard hadn’t been in our way yesterday, I think Lewis could have fought for the victory,” said Wolff.

“On the other side, something he said to me is that we have had so many race victories, so much success, that these last races, they don’t change anything of how we feel.

“He drove like a world champion today. From P16, working his way slowly through the cars, playing the long game and then finishing in fourth, driving away from the Red Bull. That was a statement of a world champion.”

Mercedes’ pre-race estimations had pointed to Hamilton finishing sixth, but he was helped on his way by an opening corner collision between front row starter Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

Wolff added: “Before the race, the best estimate was P6. On pure pace and medium tyre to medium tyre with Lando, he was two-tenths slower. But obviously with Lewis’ traffic situation etcetera, we would have been right up there.”

The final farewell

While Hamilton has taken part in his final race for Mercedes, he will now take part in a number of sponsorship and promotional appearances as part of a winter farewell tour before he is released to Ferrari.

But Wolff said that after such a long time together, the bonds between them will ultimately never be broken.

“It has been 12 years,” he said. “It is not only the longest driver-team relationship the sport has ever seen; it is probably also one of the longest relationships that any sports team had with a player.

“It has been one of the longest relationships we have had personally with another person and that creates attachment, and trust. And those values, in this day and age, are rare.

“That’s why it is a period of time that we will always hold close to our hearts and one of the best periods that I have personally had with the team.”

Wolff said that he and Hamilton would make every effort to try to maintain their relationship in the future even though they will become rivals from 2025.

“We said we are going to work hard on maintaining the relationship,” he said. “It is going to be fierce competition on the track but if individuals want a relationship to continue beyond competition, we will do so.

“We will still be doing our sports sessions where we are both competitive, and try to beat each other; or ride a motorbike, have dinner together and all of those things.”