Abu Dhabi GP: What did Lewis Hamilton say to the team after his final race for Mercedes?

The British driver, 39, has been with the German outfit since he moved from McLaren in 2013, and has never raced in Formula 1 without a Mercedes engine behind him.

But next season, the seven-time world champion is heading to Ferrari, with 2025 shaping up to feature four teams - Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari - all vying for glory.

In his final race for Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this afternoon (December 8) Hamilton finished fifth in what transpired to be a somewhat lonely race, far enough ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth but staring at teammate George Russell’s rear wing for most of the race, before overtaking him on the final lap.

Speaking to his team over the radio after crossing the finish line - and doing donuts after everyone else had pulled into the pit lane - Hamilton said: “The pleasure has all been mine. We dreamed alone but together we believed.

“As a team, what we achieved - thank you for all your courage, determination, passion, and for seeing and supporting me. That step we took with faith turned into a journey that goes into the history books.

“We did everything together and I am truly grateful to everyone. From the bottom of my heart, all the best. I love you guys.”

It has been a frustrating season for Hamilton, with the Mercedes struggling to keep pace with the other front-running teams. As the races have dwindled down he has appeared more and more frustrated over the radio, with team boss Toto Wolff having to step in and calm him down on multiple occasions.

When he got out of the car, Hamilton gently patted the sidepod in an emotional moment, putting all the hardship of the past few seasons behind him before embracing outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, and congratulating race winner Lando Norris.

After Max Verstappen sealed the drivers’ championship two races ago in Las Vegas, all eyes were on the constructors’ title, which was won by McLaren for the first time since 1998, thanks to Norris winning the race. Ferrari finished second and third, but could not close the points gap to the Woking outfit.

Elsewhere on the grid, we bid a fond farewell to both Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen, with both drivers out of contract at the end of the season. The Sauber and Haas racers respectively didn’t exactly have a clean race, colliding with one another in an incident that put Bottas out of the race.

Williams’ temporary stand-in Franco Colapinto was forced into retirement halfway through the race. The Argentine replaced Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix, and despite a penchant for crashing has impressed with his raw pace, and could find himself back on the grid next season.

A few races ago, Red Bull boss Christian Horner was seen speaking with Williams counterpart James Vowles in the team’s motorhome - the latter joking that they only met because Williams had a new coffee sponsor.