'That's the last time I'm going to hear that' – Lewis Hamilton shares ...

Lewis Hamilton has opened up on an emotional moment in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that brought home the fact his time with Mercedes was coming to an end, after a superb drive from P16 on the grid to P4.

A mixture of traffic and clouting a bollard in Q1 on Saturday evening saw Hamilton drop out in the first part of qualifying on the last of his 246 appearances for Mercedes – the team with which he won six of his seven World Championships – ahead of his move to Ferrari in 2025.

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But Hamilton put the disappointment of his third Q1 exit in six races behind him with a fine drive in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, using an alternative hard-to-medium strategy to surge from 16th on the grid to P4 at the flag – that place earned with a searing final-lap pass around the outside of Turn 9 on his team mate George Russell.

Speaking after the race, Hamilton revealed that the fabled instruction from engineer Pete ‘Bono’ Bonnington of ‘it’s Hammer Time’ had brought home the fact that this would be his final appearance for Mercedes – whose engines have powered Hamilton to all 105 of his F1 victories.

“When [Bono] said it was ‘Hammer Time’, I did notice in the moment, I was like, 'that’s the last time I’m going to hear that,’” said Hamilton. “It really clicked for me in that moment. But a really, really hard race, naturally, from where I was [on the grid].