For 12 seasons, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes penned one of the most fabled stories in the history of Formula One.
On the track, they rewrote the record books with seven consecutive constructors’ titles and six drivers’ titles in an unprecedented period of dominance between 2014 and 2020.
Off the grid, Hamilton – the sport’s first and only Black world champion – has grown to become its conscience, standing up against injustice and calling for more to be done to address diversity, representation and inclusion in motorsport through his charity, Mission 44.
As with every story, though, there comes an ending.
For this famed partnership, that time will come in Abu Dhabi on December 8 as the pair head off in their separate ways.
Hamilton will embark on an intriguing chapter with Ferrari, while Mercedes will begin a new era spearheaded by George Russell.
“We did so much together. We fought year-on-year-on-year. We’ve gone through so many highs and lows together,” Hamilton told CNN Sport in Qatar in a US and UK exclusive interview ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix there, the penultimate race of his Mercedes career.
“(We’re) the most successful partnership in history, which is something when we started out, we didn’t know that was necessarily going to be the case.
“We created history together. I don’t look at what I wish we did more because there’s literally no more we could’ve done and we created great bonds, great friendships.”
Expectation vs. reality
After dominating the sport through the turbo-hybrid era, Mercedes’ failure to adapt to the new technical regulations since the 2022 season has seen the team slide down the pecking order behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
Last year’s campaign was particularly painful, with the outfit posting a winless season for the first time since 2011.
Max Verstappen has romped to four consecutive drivers’ titles, his latest confirmed with a fifth-place finish at last week’s race in Las Vegas, while the Dutchman’s Red Bull team has captured the previous two constructors’ titles.
Hopes were high ahead of this season that Hamilton and Mercedes could pull back some of the deficit and mount a title challenge, yet – as with previous seasons – it has proven to be a mixed bag.
“We’ve had a couple of difficult years, and this year … we were hoping to have a car that we could fight for the World Championship,” he says.
“Ultimately, we got to the first test (and) we realized that we had a bunch of issues and we’ve not been fighting for the World Championship, so that’s definitely tough for everyone.
“It’s been a hard slog all year just to try to continue to develop the car and try and catch up … so for us to have a win in Austria, Silverstone, Spa and Las Vegas – those are so vital for the health of the team.”
The Silver Arrows’ one-two finish at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix has provided added impetus as the team seeks to finish a sub-par season on a high with a fitting farewell for the seven-time champion.
While the Qatar Grand Prix may still be its infancy, having only made its debut on the calendar in 2021, it’s a circuit Hamilton has graced with a winning touch.
That year, Hamilton arrived in hot pursuit of then-leader and eventual champion Verstappen before triumphing in an eventful race to tee up a dramatic title fight finale in Saudi Arabi and Abu Dhabi.
“The heat here (in Qatar) is the killer,” he said. “You’ve got to have a lot of fluids. The track is very smooth, but it’s all medium and high speed, so you’re pulling that G-force constantly throughout the lap – so it’s very challenging.
“At this point, it feels less emotional because, even though we’re coming to the end, it just feels like you now want to finish off as strong as possible, you want to put all your energy into trying to win one of these last races. If we can get two more one-two’s, that would be amazing, so that’s the goal.”
Winning touch
While victories and podium appearances have been sporadic in recent seasons, the facts, figures and achievements held by the Brit remain etched prominently in the history books.
To date, he holds the F1 records for the most career wins, most pole positions, most podium finishes and most career points – to name but a few.
Despite the success, Hamilton remains humble about his achievements in the sport.
“It’s just like any other big success story within the sport because there’ve been many of them, many people winning multiple World Championships,” he explains.
“I’d like to think that I challenged the team in ways that they’ve perhaps never been challenged before in terms of how we engaged in the background, how we engaged with our partners and how through conversation and through collaboration we opened up the doors for more people from different backgrounds … That’s something I’m really, really proud to have been a part of.”
Just this week, F1 announced the signing of a new formal Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) charter, based on a report delivered by The Hamilton Commission in 2021.
Implementation of the charter will be supported by the Mission 44 charity, and its founder hopes that will pave the way for a new generation of opportunities within and beyond motorsport.
“I hope, in years to come, the sport will be more and more represented to the outside world and more and more young kids, no matter where you’re from, no matter what you look like, no matter your gender, (can) dream of one day working on a spacecraft or being an engineer within racing,” Hamilton said.
To infinity and beyond?
While Hamilton still has his sights set on sealing a record-breaking eighth drivers’ title, he holds another aspiration that stretches far beyond the racetrack: to venture into space.
The 39-year-old recently fulfilled a childhood dream when he went on an astronaut training flight in Texas as part of activation with IWC Schaffhausen.
Hamilton was put through the same training used to prepare the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn crews for commercial spaceflight missions.
It’s an experience that has left the door open for that dream to one day possibly become a reality.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d get the chance to do something like that – I was literally a kid in the candy store,” he smiles.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to go to space. I’m watching all the progress in that technology.
“I don’t really just want to go outside of the atmosphere. I want to be on one of the planets. At least go to the moon and do the moonwalk. That would be kind of cool.”
