Lewis Hamilton’s anonymous Brazilian Grand Prix, as George Russell challenged for the win, shows it’s the right time for Mercedes and the seven-time F1 Champion to part ways. Hamilton will leave Mercedes after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in just over a month’s time, as he sets off for pastures new with Ferrari, having signed a deal to change teams during last winter. “If this is the last time that I get to perform, it’s a shame it wasn’t great, but grateful for you,” was Lewis Hamilton’s plaintive radio message as he returned to the pits following Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix – an unclear message in terms of meaning, but an acknowledgment – the latest one – of emotion in his final weeks with Mercedes .
Sunday was a day of two halves for Hamilton, having had a spin in his hero Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/5B before the race – a ‘pinch-me’ moment if ever there was one for him. “It’s very, very emotional, naturally,” said Hamilton after climbing out of the car having waved the Brazilian flag to the joy of the home crowd as he drove the iconic machine around the Interlagos circuit. “I was just revisiting my childhood as I was watching [Ayrton] race here as a kid.
Hearing that sound and...
watching him drive here, winning that race, I just couldn’t believe that I just had that chance to do that, and it was really the greatest honour of my career. “To do it here in front of this beautiful crowd here in Brazil, who stood out in the rain all d.