Formula 1 | Together, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes believed in it

Who wasn’t left with shivers when, after crossing the finish line on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton addressed his team: “It’s been a pleasure. I dreamed alone, but together we believed in it…”

“Thank you all for the courage, the determination, the passion, for seeing who I was and supporting me,” continued the pilot, whose helmet hid the tears.

“What started as an act of faith turned into an epic story that has made its way into the history books. We did everything together and I am so, so grateful to everyone at the factory. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you the best. »

This speech, like the reactions that came from everywhere after the race, made people think of retirement. “I have the impression that everyone wishes him a good start from Formula 1, but he is only changing teams,” recalled Lando Norris in an interview with Sky Sports.

It may not have been a retirement, but the moment was no less poignant. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are like Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, or Tom Brady and the New England Patriots; we cannot imagine them one without the other.

What an association it was. The most glorious in the history of Formula 1.

The decision paid off

Hamilton arrived at Mercedes in 2013. He then replaced seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

The 27-year-old driver’s decision surprised many at the time, considering that he was leaving a team with which he had already won a world championship title, McLaren, to join one which did not know great successes.

“I was excited to work with new people and come into a team that had been struggling. […] I went there with what I felt in my gut and in my heart,” Hamilton explained in an article published on the Formula 1 website in March 2023, as he looked back on his ten years at Mercedes.

“I didn’t have any doubts… although I remember at Christmas time sitting outside in the cold and looking at the snow-capped mountains and thinking, ‘Damn! I hope I made the right decision.” »

Twelve years later, the evidence is blinding: the decision was the right one.

By his second season with the team, Hamilton found himself in a fight with teammate Nico Rosberg for the drivers’ championship. A fight he won with a 67-point margin to win his first of six titles with the Silver Arrows. The team also triumphed in the constructors’ championship that year.

Hamilton repeated the feat in 2015, then in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Each time, Mercedes was also crowned.

In Türkiye, when he won his seventh title, Hamilton burst into tears into his helmet. “This one is for all the children who dream of the impossible. You can do it, too. I believe in you! », he exclaimed into his microphone.

Images still touching to this day.

Off-track influence

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, it’s 246 races, 84 victories, 78 leading positions, 153 podiums, 6 drivers’ championships and 8 constructors’ championships… but not only that.

In 12 years with the Silver Arrows, the British pilot has spoken about diversity, equality, inclusion, human rights. He attacked stereotypes and injustices. In 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, he launched the Hamilton Commission, a research initiative aimed at exploring ways to get more Black people involved in motorsport.

“When I look back in 20 years, I want to see a sport that, having given such opportunities to a shy, working-class black boy from Stevenage, has become as diverse as the complex, multicultural world in which we live,” the pilot then indicated.

Hamilton’s success at Mercedes has allowed him to become a man of great influence – on Instagram alone he is followed by more than 38 million people. Influence that he used, and still uses, to promote social change.

The quest for the eighth championship

We said it above: Hamilton is not retiring. At 39, he still has big ambitions.

At Ferrari, the Briton will drive one of the most competitive cars of 2024. The Scuderia has just had one of its best seasons in a long time, as the team finished second in the constructors’ championship, 14 short of McLaren points.

To be honest, if an eighth championship seemed impossible for Hamilton at Mercedes, it seems a little more possible at Ferrari.

At the start of this article, we told you what the driver said at the end of his last race, last weekend.

Let’s end it now with the words of Toto Wolff, team leader:

“We love you too, Lewis. You will always be part of this family. And if we can’t win together, you should win [sans nous]. »