After 12 seasons, 246 Grands Prix, 84 victories and six drivers’ championships with Mercedes, the curtain will come down on one of the most storied periods in Formula 1 on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton bows out of Mercedes, leaving behind a legacy on and off the track. Next year, at 40, he will “fulfill a childhood dream,” he said, and drive for Ferrari.
“We’ve had an absolutely incredible journey together,” he said of Mercedes. “We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in, and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.”
On joining Ferrari, Hamilton said he “felt like it was time to start a new chapter” in his career.
“It was not that difficult to convince Lewis” to join, Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, said. “It is a move that has been 20 years in the making,” he added, referring to when Hamilton drove for Vasseur’s team in the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005.
“At the time he was tied to McLaren-Mercedes,” Vasseur, said, “but he already had in mind that sooner or later he would go to Ferrari.”
Hamilton departs Mercedes as the most successful driver in the team’s history, and it will miss him.
