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Laurence Edmondson, F1 editor
Lewis Hamilton said it was an “emotional” and “surreal” experience to attend his final car launch as a Mercedes driver before moving to Ferrari in 2025.
The seven-time champion shocked the racing world earlier this month when it was announced that he would leave his contract with Mercedes a year early to join Ferrari early next year.
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Hamilton has driven for Mercedes since early 2013, winning six of his seven titles with the team, as well as 82 of his 103 race victories.
“It’s obviously been emotional and very surreal to be here,” Hamilton said at the car launch. “I arrived here in 2013, that is, 11 years with the team and now I am starting my 12th year.
“It is a great privilege to work with a group of people where you can see the work they do during the winter.
“We’ve been through this process the last few years, you see how a car is put together at the beginning of the year, and it’s the most exciting part of the season when you see everyone’s launches.”
Hamilton has often spoken about his unfinished business with Mercedes after missing out on an eighth title due to former F1 race director Michael Masi’s controversial handling of the final laps of the 2021 season finale.
Since the introduction of new technical regulations in 2022, Mercedes has struggled to remain competitive and last year finished a distant second in the constructors’ standings behind reigning champions Red Bull.
Hamilton said he remains committed to helping the team return to the front of the field.
“The goal throughout winter training is, first of all, for the team to get back to where we were,” he added. “I think we’ve had this tough couple of years, which I think has been really pivotal for us.
“Now it’s helped us regroup, we’ve had to rethink things and now we’re just going through the important process of being really diligent with our work, understanding the data and understanding the car.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team was determined to end its partnership with Hamilton on a high, starting with the car’s first laps during a shakedown at the Silverstone circuit in the UK on Wednesday.
“Obviously it will be our last season with Lewis, so we are interested in bringing a really fast car,” he said. “In the factory they have worked hard to produce the product and today we will see how it goes.
“I don’t remember us all being so interested in finally starting the car and seeing what it was like. This is a complete relaunch of a car, it’s very different, not just in the aerodynamic surfaces, but underneath there are so many “We’ve made a lot of changes. which we hope will translate into more performance so the drivers can really push themselves.