Lewis Hamilton was photographed ‘full of tears’ in the Mercedes garage after completing his final race for the Silver Arrows at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 39-year-old, who will join Ferrari next year, endured a disappointing start to the weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit. In qualifying, he ran over a stray bollard which ruined his final lap and saw him knocked out in Q1.
A day later, Hamilton pulled off a brilliant recovery drive as he surged from 16th on the grid to cross the finish line in fourth. He secured that position with a last-lap pass on Mercedes team-mate George Russell around the outside of Turn Nine.
There were some emotional scenes when he finally got a moment to himself in the Mercedes garage after stepping out of the cockpit, according to Turkish journalist Cihangir Perperik.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he said that Hamilton hugged everybody around him before finding a quiet space where he bowed his head and knelt down.
A few moments later, he lifted his head up and looked once more at his Mercedes colleagues. It was at this point that his eyes were ‘full of tears’ in what must have been a bittersweet moment.
Speaking after the chequered flag, Hamilton nearly choked up as he recalled a message from his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, which made him feel a pang of sadness during the race.
He explained: « When Bono said it was ‘hammer time’, I did notice in the moment. I was like: ‘That’s the last time I’m going to hear that’. It really clicked for me in that moment.
« But a really, really hard race, naturally, from where I was [on the grid]. The first stint was really, really difficult. I wasn’t losing hope, but I was just like: ‘Ah, it’s not going as well as I thought it would’.
« I just didn’t give up, kept pushing, switched onto the [medium] tyres and the car came alive but I had a massive gap to close, so I just focused on getting just absolutely everything from the car and not giving up. »
Asked what was going through his mind when he knelt down at the end of the race, Hamilton replied: « I can’t remember, to be honest. It’s already a blur, but I think it was just the last time I’m going to be in the cockpit of a Mercedes.
« [I was] just trying to enjoy that moment. Obviously I did the whole race, and there’s so much to do in it, but just to be able to hold onto that moment, because it’s history now and all my races have all been powered by Mercedes and all the success we’ve had. »
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