For the final time, Lewis Hamilton took to a Formula 1 track in a Mercedes car and unsurprisingly, he produced a remarkable performance.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has produced some incredibly emotional moments for Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton has a phenomenal record at Abu Dhabi but wasn’t able to add to his five race victories in the Emirati desert.
His long-term rival wasn’t able to win a fifth straight race at the season finale, with Hamilton managing to finish ahead of this year’s champion despite starting 16th on the grid.
An unfortunate incident in Q1 with a bollard getting stuck under his car meant he had plenty of work to do.
What followed was one of Hamilton’s best drives of the season, delivering a P4 finish for Mercedes during his final race for the team.
Soon, Hamilton will turn his attention to starting his next chapter at Ferrari, while Mercedes are rapidly preparing Kimi Antonelli for his F1 debut.
However, there are plenty of memories for both the seven-time world champion and his team to reminisce on over the next few days and weeks.
Hamilton was denied testing for Ferrari next week in Abu Dhabi due to sponsorship commitments, with a partnership that embedded hard to break.
The 39-year-old has taken to Instagram to mark the end of his time with Mercedes and George Russell only needed one word to describe his now-former teammate.
George Russell sends message to Lewis Hamilton after his final race for Mercedes
The pair went into Sunday’s race level on points at Mercedes since Russell joined the team at the beginning of the 2022 season.
Russell had the advantage over his more experienced colleague by starting 10 positions ahead of his teammate.
However, Hamilton used the alternative strategy and while chaos ensued ahead of him, he kept his cool.
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Aside from Charles Leclerc surging past him and 10 other cars on the opening lap, Hamilton still made up plenty of places.
A fantastic move on Russell on the final lap earned him fourth place but he couldn’t do any more to get on the podium.
Posting on Instagram after the race, Hamilton said: “TOGETHER WE BELIEVED. ALL LOVE, IT’S BEEN REAL.”
Russel kept his message to Hamilton short and sweet and simply replied: “Legend,” with an emoji of a goat.
George Russell now tasked with replacing Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes’ team leader
Replacing Hamilton is an almost impossible job and has been attempted once again before in F1 history.
When Hamilton departed McLaren at the end of 2012, they brought in Sergio Perez to partner Jenson Button the following year.
Perez only lasted a year before Kevin Magnussen replaced him and he didn’t last much longer either.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height
Kimi Antonelli will be given much more time to get up to speed to replace Hamilton but the pressure is really on Russell.
He will take over as team leader and his recent results including a strong win in Las Vegas prove that he has what it takes to be a championship contender.
Russell’s feud with Verstappen may not be exactly how Hamilton would have tackled a similar situation but proves he’s ready to fight the best drivers on the grid.
He’s also got to prepare for battle with Hamilton for the first time in a competitive car when they’re no longer teammates.
