Lewis Hamilton’s incredible Mercedes story comes to an end after 11 record-breaking years – but now a new chapter awaits

LEWIS HAMILTON matched Michael Schumacher’s record of seven Formula 1 titles at Mercedes – now he plans to break it in Ferrari red.

The 39-year-old will bring down the curtain on his Mercedes career in Abu Dhabi this weekend – the very race that turned his life upside down in 2021.

No one thought it would be a bitter-sweet ending like this, a week on from threatening to retire his car early after a disastrous race in Qatar which saw two penalties and a puncture.

But Hamilton’s time at Mercedes should be remembered as a glittering 11-year partnership that has delivered six drivers’ titles and eight constructors’ championships.

From a fierce rivalry with Nico Rosberg, known as the Silver War, to winning the German Grand Prix from 14th in 2018, Hamilton has delivered box-office drama at Merc while becoming one of the finest drivers to ever grace the grid.

The numbers speak for themselves, with Hamilton the most successful driver ever – taking six of his seven championships with Mercedes, 84 of his 105 race wins, and 78 of his 104 poles.

For three-years Hamilton and Rosberg went hammer and tongs against each other which eventually led to the latter’s retirement in 2016 and the souring of a childhood friendship.

They traded barbs throughout Hamilton’s title winning campaigns in 2014 and 2015 before the tension reached its crescendo a year later.

With Hamilton on pole in the season finale in Abu Dhabi in 2016, Rosberg just needed to finish on the podium to become world champion.

Hamilton drove slowly in an attempt to bring other drivers into the battle, knowing he needed Rosberg to finish below third.

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The British driver rowed with his team over the radio and was repeatedly told to speed up but told the team: “Let us race.”

Rosberg came under pressure from Sebastian Vettel but held off the Ferrari driver to finish second.

The race summed up just how fraught this rivalry had become and how little ground either driver was prepared to give up – and F1 was all the richer for it.

It also lit a fire in Hamilton’s belly though as he won three consecutive titles from 2017 onwards.

Over the years Hamilton has been the man to rise above his machine, something we have only really seen from Max Verstappen’s fierce competitiveness on track.

Hamilton won the German Grand Prix from 14th in 2018, crossed the Silverstone finish line with three tyres in 2020 and a year later soared to victory in Sao Paulo from 10th on the grid.

It was that very year when his career came crashing down, with him so deeply cut after losing what would have been his eighth world title to Verstappen in the Abu Dhabi desert in 2021.

He dominated the race from the start, only for race director Michael Masi to fail to apply the rules correctly during a late safety-car period.

Masi’s decisions to override protocol over the handling of lapped cars and the timing of a restart were followed by Verstappen passing Hamilton when the race was restarted for one final lap and the title changing hands.

Hamilton was so distraught that he nearly walked out on the sport for good as he battled with his mental health.

Mercedes and Hamilton returned the following season determined to right the wrongs.

Things only got worse, and the team’s lack of competitiveness thrust Hamilton to make the shock decision to join Ferrari at the end of this campaign.

It hasn’t just been a floundering Mercedes car to blame but he was riddled with self doubt following the Abu Dhabi controversy.

This was reinforced by his failure to win a race for 945 days, a week before the safety car chaos in Saudi Arabia that fateful year.

But trust Hamilton to break his drought on his home turf at Silverstone in July to become the record-holder for F1 wins at a single circuit.

For the first time in a glittering career spanning three decades and 355 grands prix, Hamilton blubbed like never before as he took the chequered flag when he won Silverstone in June – ending a two-and-a-half year wait for victory.

Hamilton now has the chance to write a new chapter in his F1 career at Ferrari, but whether he goes down in the history books as the record title holder, only time will tell.

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk