Nico Rosberg makes his feelings known about Lewis Hamilton's sensational last lap overtake of George Russell
Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg was left in awe of his former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton's sensational last-lap overtake on George Russell during the 2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday evening. The seven-time F1 world champion capped off his time with the German team in spectacular fashion as he finished P4 at the end of the race in the Yas Marina Circuit.
The British driver started the race from P16 and made a decent getaway, gaining two positions after Turn 1. Hamilton made the full use of starting on an alternative strategy as he went long with his hard tires, and was rapid during his final stint on medium tires.
After honing on his teammate George Russell for over 10 laps to the end, Lewis Hamilton finally made a stunning overtake on the banked corner of Turn 10 after the final DRS zone. Speaking with Sky Sports, Nico Rosberg praised the overtake very highly and said:
“That was insane. The way he lined him up. It was perfection through that whole section around the back, right on the amazing. The drive of the seven-time world champion. There you go."
In his post-race interview, Lewis Hamilton gave his analysis of his move on George Russell on the final lap and termed it as "now or never", saying (via RacingNews365):
"It took perfection like I really had to put together the best laps I could, like in Vegas, I was catching for a period of time and then stopped, so I was trying to make sure that I kept taking chunks out of that gap.
"I only caught him at the end of that last lap, and I was like: 'I've got to make this, it is now or never', and so I just went for it. It is not that I needed the confidence, I've always had the confidence, but it really nice to finish off with a strong, hard battle and with no mistakes."
Lewis Hamilton expresses his feelings after driving for Mercedes one last time
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton stated that it had been a great journey with the German team as he contemplated after the race that he had done all his races in the sport with their engine.
Speaking with F1.com, the 39-year-old said:
“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 – I just sat there to think about all that and just contemplate how great a journey it’s been."
Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari from the 2025 season on a multi-year deal and wrapped up his time with Mercedes after finishing P7 in the driver's championship.