“Lewis, it’s Hammer Time”. A radio message that was once feared by the opponents and their fans, will now be missed on the grid. Lewis Hamilton drove his last race for Mercedes on Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit, a team with whom he has won six world titles.
As the race ended, the British driver shared an emotional radio exchange with his race engineer Peter Bonnington, often referred to as Bono on the team radio, and team principal Toto Wolff. Both had very heartwarming messages for Hamilton as he drove around the Yas Marina Circuit after crossing the finish line in the cooldown lap, before treating the fans to a donut spectacle.
“I love you guys. I really, really do”
Lewis signs off his time with Mercedes in style#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/VhGfFcUASd
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 8, 2024
“Lewis, that was the drive of a world champion,” Toto Wolff was all praises for the driver as Hamilton thanked the team on the radio for all the hard work they have done for him over the past 11 years. Bono followed suit in congratulating Lewis on his successful tenure at Mercedes. “Good lad. Stellar job today bud. But yeah, it’s been a pleasure all the way…” to which the seven time world champion replied with “The pleasure’s been mine. Yeah Bono. You know, we dreamed alone, but together we believed and, as a team, we achieved things that only… Thank you for all the courage, the determination, the passion and for seeing me and supporting me. What started out as a leap of faith, turned into a journey into the history books so – we did everything together and I’m so so grateful to everyone, here and back at the factory. From the bottom of my heart, ALL THE BEST.” and an “I love you all”.
The team principal had one final message as the radio went silent, a message that struck the heartstrings of all Mercedes fans on social media. “We love you too and you’re always going to be part of that family. And if we can’t win, you should win.”
