Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes on a high after his last-lap overtake on George Russell secured fourth place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion was put on the contra strategy after Mercedes made a mistake on their run plan during qualifying, forcing Hamilton to start from the back of the pack.
Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton for making an ‘idiotic’ mistake that compromised what could have been a strong race for the Briton, after showing strong race pace in practice.
In typical fashion, Hamilton carved his way through the field and closed a 14 second gap after passing Pierre Gasly in the closing stages of the race.
On the final lap he made a move on Russell at Turn 9, using the second DRS zone and taking to the outside where he completed the move on the exit of the long left-hander.
There was one stat that Nico Rosberg picked up on when discussing Hamilton’s race on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, which he believes gives him ‘bragging rights’ over George Russell.
Lewis Hamilton outscores George Russell throughout entire time at Mercedes
Over the course of their three-year partnership, Hamilton managed to outscore Russell on total points with his fourth place in Abu Dhabi.
Going into the race, the pair were level on 685 points. Hamilton’s move for fourth meant he scored two more points (12) than Russell, enabling him to come away with 697 points to Russell’s 695 points.
“Both teammates were on the same amount of points, 685 points, over the course of three years. And it kind of was decided in those final corners after three years,” said Rosberg.
“Now Lewis has bragging rights and he can say ‘Well, over three years I was the best driver’. Don’t underestimate, because you always want to beat your teammate.”
Did Kimi Antonelli prompt Lewis Hamilton Mercedes exit?
Next season Hamilton will be replaced by Andrea Kimi Antonelli who has already impressed in the post-season test, with his times matching the seven-time world champion.
Antonelli is hailed as the next Max Verstappen, with Wolff banking on developing him into a future world champion.
READ MORE: Who is Mercedes academy driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Everything to know
Wolff suspected that Hamilton was wary of Antonelli’s rise before he signed for Ferrari, knowing he could put Mercedes in a difficult position later on.
The Ferrari move is expected to be Hamilton’s last in F1, as he pursues an eighth world championship and one without using Mercedes power for the first time in his career.
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