Lewis Hamilton career in pictures: Driving for Mercedes the 'greatest honour of my life'
Driving for Mercedes Hamilton's 'greatest honour'
Driving for Mercedes was the "greatest honour" of Lewis Hamilton's career, the seven-time world champion has declared.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was his 246th and final race for the tri-star before moving to Ferrari in 2025.
After a difficult 2024, Hamilton put in a vintage performance to drive through the field from a lowly 16th after a botched qualifying to finish fourth.
In acknowledging the milestone, organisers even gave him a special spot on the main straight alongside the top-three after the race.
After it's done
After climbing from the car, he squatted down next to it. A moment of reflection at the end of one of the most successful relationships not just in F1's history, but in sport generally.
"When I stopped the car I just wanted to embrace the moment, because it's the last time I'm going to step into a Mercedes and represent them, it's been the greatest honour of my life," he said.
"I mean every moment that I've got in the car this week, I've known that it's one of the last and it's been really hard to let go.
"I'm proud of every race, every pole position, every win we've had together, every championship, so when I knelt next to it I was just giving thanks, firstly thanking my own spirit for continuing to push, thanking everyone that powered and built that car. I'm proud of everyone."
Champagne showers
Hamilton departs the team having won 84 races since joining the team for the 2013 season. He won six of his seven world titles for the brand.
What makes Hamilton's move to Ferrari even more significant is it will mark the first time he has driven an F1 car not powered by a Mercedes engine.
Even in his McLaren days, the team was powered by Mercedes engines and was basically a de facto Mercedes works team.
A sensational debut
Hamilton joined the F1 grid in 2007 with McLaren, and finished on the podium on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Victory No.1
He won his first race at that year's Canadian Grand Prix, and would go on to win three more by season's end.
He only narrowly missed out on winning the world championship.
'Is that Glock?!'
In 2008, Hamilton righted the wrong from a year earlier to win the world championship in dramatic fashion.
Needing to finish only fifth in the final race of the year in Brazil, Hamilton started the final lap in sixth as rain began to pelt the Sao Paulo track.
On intermediate tyres, Hamilton got past the Toyota of Timo Glock who was battling on dry tyres to win the title by one point.
The Mercedes switch
Mercedes joined the grid as a full works team for the 2010 season, taking over the 2009 World Championship-winning BrawnGP.
At the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton shocked the sport when he announced he would leave the now-independent McLaren and join Mercedes for 2013.
At that point, the team hadn't won a race and had barely looked competitive, even with the legendary Michael Schumacher behind the wheel.
The move was largely panned, although history would show it to be a masterstroke.
He took his first win for the works Mercedes team at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The first of many
He took his first win for the works Mercedes team at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The domination begins
F1 underwent a massive regulation change for 2014, switching to turbocharged hybrid engines.
The engine boffins at Mercedes designed an absolute belter, and it began a period of dominance in the sport that hadn't been seen in a decade.
Hamilton secured his second world title in that year's double-points finale in Abu Dhabi, and repeated the feat in 2015.
That Malaysian failure
As it had been the past two years, the 2016 season was a battle between Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg.
But on this occasion, it was the German that came out on top after Hamilton suffered a stunning engine failure in Brazil.
Such a failure had to that point been a rarity for Mercedes engines, and Hamilton suggested there was a conspiracy to have the German Rosberg with the championship in a German car.
Rosberg then dropped a bombshell on the sport and retired, stating he had achieved what he'd set out to achieve and had nothing more to prove.
