That elusive eighth World Championship may have remained out of reach for Lewis Hamilton in F1 2024, but he does end the year as a champion.

And that is because, after the public went to vote for their 2024 GQ Style Champion, it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed the award, beating Australian actor Jacob Elordi in the final round.

Lewis Hamilton the 2024 GQ Style Champion

Hamilton is well-embedded in the fashion world and the incoming Ferrari driver is known for bringing the catwalk to the Formula 1 paddock.

That included his creative outfit transition across the F1 2024 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Hamilton’s final season with Mercedes – where his clothes mirrored the occasion.

Starting out in white, Hamilton transitioned to black, hints of red and finally all bold red for Grand Prix Sunday ahead of his final race with Mercedes before joining Ferrari on a multi-year deal, agreed ahead of the 2024 season getting underway.

Hamilton – who has set new F1 benchmarks including most grand prix wins (105), most poles (104) and most podiums (202) in his time at Mercedes – plus equalling Michael Schumacher’s record tally of seven World Championships, signed off at Mercedes with a recovery drive to P4 in Abu Dhabi, overtaking team-mate George Russell on the last lap.

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With Hamilton having found himself in the unique position of contesting the entire F1 2024 campaign knowing he was going to leave Mercedes at the end of it, the 39-year-old admitted that sparked “turbulence” within the team as his long-time Mercedes colleagues came to terms with his Ferrari decision.

Asked by Channel 4 after the Abu Dhabi GP if his Ferrari move had sunk in yet, Hamilton replied: “It hasn’t, honestly.

“I remember at the beginning of the year when I was printing off the contract and couldn’t believe that it was actually happening.

“It’s been a really, really, really long year. Tough to firstly go with the announcement and then obviously the relationship.

“Lots of turbulence, lots of ups and downs with people that I’ve been working with for many, many years.

“Managing that was really, really, really tough through the whole year. There’s so many people and it’s affected everybody.

“To go through this low, turbulent time and then come back and get to a point here where love just comes through.

“Beyond the upset and people [saying] ‘I can’t imagine you in red’ to now just [saying to me] ‘I wish you all the best, thank you so much for everything we’ve done’ and tears.

“It’s really beautiful. Honestly, I’m forever grateful to this team, every member that’s here, every member back in the factory, it’s been the honour of my life to be a part of it.

“I can’t believe that I’m going to be in red next year. It looks good on me, so hopefully I can make that work!”

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