Lewis Hamilton got teary when he realized it was his last two races with Mercedes, claims F1 insider
Sky Sports F1 pundit Ted Kravitz has claimed that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton got emotional after he realized that his partnership with the German team was ending after the next two races. The seven-time F1 world champion shocked the paddock before the season when he announced that he would depart the Brackley-based outfit for Ferrari in 2025.
The move caught everyone by surprise as the 39-year-old had signed a contract extension with Mercedes in August 2023 until the end of the 2025 season. However, he decided to activate his release clause to join Ferrari at the beginning of the 2025 season.
As per F1 Oversteer, Kravitz revealed that during his media duties in Qatar, Hamilton was "teary" after it dawned on him that his time with Mercedes coming to an end after the next two races.
Speaking with CNN, Lewis Hamilton reminisced about his time with Mercedes and said:
“We did so much together. We fought year-on-year-on-year. We’ve gone through so many highs and lows together. (We’re) the most successful partnership in history, which is something when we started out, we didn’t know that was necessarily going to be the case.
“We created history together. I don’t look at what I wish we did more because there’s literally no more we could’ve done and we created great bonds, great friendships.”
Lewis Hamilton gives his take on not driving for Ferrari in post-season test
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he was aware that he would be "missing" out on the crucial time by not driving the Ferrari SF-24 in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
As per Crash.net, the British driver mentioned that driving the red car in a test does not "excite" him, saying:
“Am I missing out on something? For sure. It definitely delays the process and makes the start of the year harder, but we'll do our best to recover. Driving the red car for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me. In a perfect world, you'd get to drive it and not be seen and do the first rollout next year.
"When I did raise it, obviously with Toto, they had all these plans that I've got to go and see some of the sponsors and say their farewells. So I don't think it was ever going to actually be allowed, even if I'd asked to have done it. But because I'm contracted to the team until December 31st, that's totally fine."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff cited "contractual obligations" as one of the reasons for Lewis Hamilton missing out on the chance to join Ferrari at the earliest after the end of the Abu Dhabi GP.