Hamilton's emotional note for Antonelli about Mercedes revealed
F1 News
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix concluded not only the 2024 Formula 1 season, but also Lewis Hamilton’s time at Mercedes. Having spent the over a decade racing for Mercedes, both the team and driver have been sharing emotional stories as Hamilton prepares to move to Ferrari next year.
Speaking on Hamilton’s time at Mercedes on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Mercedes race team coordinator Stephen Lord spoke about his experience of working with Hamilton over the years and shared a heartwarming anecdote regarding a note left for his successor Kimi Antonelli.
Lord described Hamilton’s emotional experience leaving the Mercedes race base for the final time after the race in Monza as Hamilton came to the realisation that it would be his final time in the room.
Hamilton to Kimi 'wishing him best of luck'
Hamilton was slow to leave his driver's room as he was writing a note for Kimi Antonelli, Lord revealed, “I walked into the room and on the wall there was quite a long handwritten note. It was a note to Kimi and it was basically welcoming him into his new room. It was wishing him the best of luck saying some really nice things about the team and how if you care for them, they’ll care for you because they’re a great team."
The team coordinator then went onto explain how Mercedes have since covered the note with glass so that it can be preserved.
Lord also revealed Hamilton’s cheekier side, saying, “I walked into the bathroom and next to the toilet above the toilet roll holder was ‘Lewis was here’ with a big smiley face.”
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