Lewis Hamilton ‘massively underestimated’ emotional final season with Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton underestimated just how emotional bidding farewell to his long-time Mercedes would be at the end of the 2024 season.

Lewis Hamilton ‘massively underestimated’ emotional final season with Mercedes

Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton (via Planetf1)

Lewis Hamilton is all set to leave Mercedes after the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP. The Briton had announced the move way before the commencement of this year’s campaign. Hence, the 39-year-old will race as a Silver Arrow for one last time in Abu Dhabi. Speaking upon the farewell, Hamilton reckoned that he had underestimated just how emotional the ending with the team would be.

The 2024 season has been filled with extreme ups and downs for Lewis Hamilton. Despite the difficulties in performance, Hamilton amassed two highly coveted race wins. The Briton’s victory on home soil was one of the season’s highlights. Following the move to Ferrari, the 39-year-old anticipated that parting the team would be difficult. However, the Mercedes star ‘massively underestimated’ how difficult the moment would be.

I think ultimately I anticipated it would be difficult, but massively underestimated how difficult it would be.

Lewis Hamilton told motorsport.com
YouTube video

Breaking the news to the team principal Toto Wolff wasn’t easy for Hamilton. The Briton recalled that discussing the move was extremely straining on the relationship for both of them. Moreover, he pointed out that 2024 had been very emotional with the team. Subsequently, he accepted that he hadn’t been particularly good at handling those emotions.

FS Video

It was straining on the relationship very early on. It took time for people to get past it. And then just for my own self, it’s been a very emotional year for me. I think I’ve not been at my best in handling and dealing with those emotions.

Lewis Hamilton added

Lewis Hamilton deems 2024 as ‘one of the worst’ in terms of handling emotions

Throughout the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton was witnessed lashing out on the team radio due to struggles in performance. Hamilton recalled all those moments and claimed that people had seen the best and the worst of him. Moreover, the Briton accepted that he wasn’t the best at handling emotions throughout the season. However, the Ferrari-bound driver will attempt to be better at handling such issues in the coming years.

I think this year, and so many of you have been here my whole career, so some of you, I think, you’ve all seen the worst of me and seen the best of me. I’m not going to apologise for either because I’m only human and I don’t always get it right. I definitely would say this year’s been one of the worst in terms of handling that from my side, which I’ll work on trying to be better at.

Lewis Hamilton noted
Lewis Hamilton disappointed (via Formula 1)
Lewis Hamilton (via Formula 1)

Mercedes is already planning a mega farewell for Hamilton following the culmination of the 2024 season. The Briton is expected to take Ferrari back to their championship days as the team will start preparing for the upcoming season. The 39-year-old would definitely like to put the final season with Mercedes in the past and look ahead at bigger things in life.