Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, has officially left Mercedes. Last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Hamilton's final race with Mercedes, closing the most succesful partnership even in the history of F1: eleven years (since 2013-2024), six Driver's Chmpionships (2014, 15, 17, 18, 19 20) and seven Constructor's titles for the British driver with the German company.
Even with no titles at stake, Hamilton achieved a remarkable fourth place, starting 12th, amid emotional tributes from his colleagues. Hamilton is joining rival team Ferrari, but the attachment with the previous team is very strong, as demonstrated by this anecdote told by Stephen Lord, Race Team Co-ordinator at Mercedes, told in the podcast Beyond the Grid, spotted by F1.
In September, after Italian Grand Prix, the final stop of the season in Europe, Hamilton realised he would not return to the European motorhome. It is a race base, where the drivers have their own rooms, where Hamilton had spent eleven years.
Lewis Hamilton was touched when he left Mercedes' base in Europe
According to Lord, Hamilton left a "quite long", hand-written note to his successor in the team, Kimi Antonielli. The 18-year-old Italian driver, who finished sixth at 2024 Formula 2 season, will partner George Russell next season on a one-year contract.
Huge shoes to fill, but Hamilton -twice his age- left a beautiful note. "It was basically welcoming him to his new room, and it was wishing him the best of luck, saying some really nice things about the team and how, 'if you care for them, they'll care for you because they're a great team.'", said Lord, who found the note.
According to Lord, Hamilton felt nostalgic before leaving his racehome for the last time. He was ready to leave, but came back to his room one more time for about 10 minutes. "I thought 'he's forgotten something', didn't think much of it", Lord told.
But when Lord later came back to the empy room, he found the note and something else: above the toilet roll holder, it was written 'Lewis was here' with a smiley face. " I thought, 'okay, I like that'. But the note to Kimi was pretty special".