On December 5, 2021, Lewis Hamilton stood at the top of the podium for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He had just beaten his championship rival Max Verstappen in the fight for the win. The two were now tied for the points lead with one race remaining.
At this stage in the season, Hamilton’s Mercedes had a clear pace advantage over Verstappen’s Red Bull. It had been close for much of the season, but the tides seemed to have finally turned to Mercedes. All signs pointed to Hamilton taking the title at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
If you had said that night Hamilton would never win another race for Mercedes, nobody would have believed you.
And yet, it is quickly becoming a reality.
The Abu Dhabi Disaster
In that final race at Abu Dhabi, Hamilton dominated, and led Verstappen by a comfortable margin. Hamilton’s record-breaking eighth championship was becoming clearer.
Just as it looked to be finished, that’s when everything fell apart.
A backmarker crash brought out safety car conditions, but not enough laps remained to go back green. Race director Michael Masi, trying to prevent the championship from ending under an anti-climactic yellow flag, broke safety car procedure.
The race went green with one lap to go when it was supposed to end under yellow. On top of that, Masi removed the lapped cars separating Hamilton and Verstappen.
Masi’s error gave Verstappen, who had pitted with nothing to lose during the safety car, an unfair advantage. Now directly behind Hamilton on 40 lap fresher tires, the Red Bull cruised past the Mercedes on the final lap shootout for the championship.
A final lap shootout that never should have happened.
It was as if Hamilton’s near decade long success with Mercedes had culminated to that moment. A moment which desired payment.
It was the most dramatic, controversial moment in the history of F1. And it left an impact that still holds strong to this day.
Never the Same
Mercedes has not been the same since that night in Abu Dhabi. Going into 2022, there was little doubt that Mercedes would recover and get back in the title fight. Sure, there were drastic new car regulations, but this is Mercedes. This is Lewis Hamilton. The greatest team-driver combo F1 had ever seen. Surely they will be back.
When asked by a reporter if he was concerned about his team’s ability to design a championship car for 2022, Hamilton maintained confidence, citing Mercedes’ eight consecutive team championships.
The reporter then suggested Mercedes could make a mistake. Hamilton replied firmly:
“My team don’t make mistakes.”
A devastating quote in hindsight.
In 2022, Mercedes was getting outperformed by Red Bull and Ferrari. Their unique zero-pod design was originally touted as a feature that could staple Mercedes at the front of the grid for years. Instead, it left them with an unbalanced, inconsistent car that puzzled Mercedes’ engineers as to where exactly they went wrong.
In 2023, Mercedes made a plethora of design changes to try and catch back up. Despite the occasional podium, these upgrades did not do enough. Mercedes still did not come close to posing a threat to Red Bull for the championship. Meanwhile, other teams like McLaren and Aston Martin made larger gains in a few months than Mercedes made in two seasons.
In 2024, Mercedes is as far behind as they have ever been since the V6 era began in 2014. It’s early, but no signs point to Mercedes posing any threat to the top teams.
Hamilton had won a grand prix in every season from 2007 to 2021. He has yet to win a single grand prix since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Pressure of Performance
While this is happening, there is a feeling of urgency with Mercedes and Hamilton. They both acknowledge they were robbed of that 2021 title. Only winning that record-breaking eighth championship could rectify the pain.
But with every passing second, time grows short.
Perhaps that is why things finally snapped.
To the surprise of his team, Hamilton announced in January that he would be leaving for Ferrari in 2025. A move that reeks of either desperation or acceptance.
Is 39-year-old Hamilton desperate to win a championship while he is still near his prime? Or has he accepted he will never reclaim that eighth title, and just wants to fulfill his childhood dream of driving for Ferrari?
Regardless, Hamilton still has to complete 2024 with Mercedes. And with the season starting as the pair’s worst in their 12 year history, things are bleak.
It feels as if both sides are waiting to be freed from the burdens of the past.
Moving On
Hamilton may not be joining a Ferrari team ready to compete with Red Bull. But he is at least joining a team closer than his current one.
As for Mercedes, not being pressured by the high expectations Hamilton brings may help the team move forward. Because currently, those expectations cannot be met.
Moving on might just be best for both sides, rather than ruing over their lost championship.
It’s a slow, miserable death for Hamilton’s time with Mercedes. The pair did achieve far more than anybody expected when they joined forces in 2013. Six championships and 82 wins serves as the most dominant team-driver pairing in F1 history.
And yet, it all feels trivial in the shadow of that fateful Abu Dhabi night.
Image courtesy of F1.com
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