The 2021 title fight will go down in history as one of the most tightly contested in recent years between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The pair went into the final race of the season level on points, with Verstappen and Hamilton on 369.5 points apiece, meaning whoever outscored who would be crowned champion.
Mercedes had worked wonders to get the seven-time World Champion back level with Verstappen, following a poor run of races between Turkey, US and Mexico Grands Prix.
After the race in Mexico, Hamilton faced a 19-point gap to the Red Bull driver. This meant the Mercedes driver needed to win the final four races if he wanted to take his eighth title.
Discussing the run of races, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin reveals the inspiring name of the WhatsApp group and how Hamilton handled the challenge.
Lewis Hamilton created ‘We will do this’ WhatsApp group when faced with 2021 title challenge
Hamilton knew he needed to overcome the points deficit to stand any chance of winning an eighth title, so set up a WhatsApp group with the team to hatch their plan on how to beat Verstappen.
The Mercedes driver would go on to take victories in Sao Paulo after starting from the back of the grid, Qatar and Saudi Arabia following a heated battle with his title rival.
Shovlin revealed what the WhatsApp group was called and some further details when speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast.
“The one thing that sums him up as the driver and competitor is, coming into the last four races [of 2021] I got an invite to a WhatsApp group ‘We will do this’ and Lewis had put a few people in it and we had to win the next four races,” said Shovlin.
“When I saw it, he was the one who created it, I got this sense of ‘Actually, we will do it’ because he believes he is going to do it and we’re there to support him, he’s got this sense of belief that so strong it can almost make things happen. The turnaround at that point, the dedication and commitment to make sure we could win four races on the bounce is incredible.”
Lewis Hamilton closes Mercedes career with impressive teammate stat
Hamilton contested his final race with Mercedes during the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP, in which he finished P4 having climbed through the order from the back of the grid.
Mercedes had made an error in his run plan during qualifying, which led to Toto Wolff apologising for an ‘idiotic’ mistake.
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton was ‘upset’ about Mercedes radio messages he received in ‘catastrophic’ period
After making his way through the field, Hamilton would go on to overtake George Russell in the final laps and secure 12 points.
This was crucial in their teammate head-to-head battle, as it meant Hamilton was now two points ahead after the pair came into the final race level on 685.
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