Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he would need to see Lewis Hamilton win at Ferrari if his personal workforce can not win the championship.

Hamilton got here by the sphere from sixteenth to complete fourth in his last race for Mercedes on Sunday as his 12 years with the Silver Arrows got here to an emotional finish on Sunday on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 39-year-old introduced earlier than the beginning of this season that he would be a part of Ferrari in 2025 and admitted he “massively underestimated” the problem of this yr.

Hamilton can be changed by Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes subsequent yr.

“If we will not win, we are going to cheer for him,” mentioned Wolff.

“He deserves an eighth championship however, clearly, the workforce, the drivers, the model, that’s the predominant precedence to win and we are going to give it all the pieces we will.”

Hamilton, who overtook George Russell on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, gained six drivers’ titles, 84 races and took 78 pole positions for Mercedes.

Wolff says he’ll “work exhausting on sustaining the connection” with Hamilton, together with having dinners and driving motorbikes with F1’s most profitable ever driver.

“It has been 12 years. It isn’t solely the longest driver-team relationship the game has ever seen however one of many longest relationships any sports activities workforce has had with a participant,” continued Wolff.

“And one of many longest relationships personally with an individual. Clearly that creates attachment, belief and people values this present day are uncommon. That is why it is a time period we are going to maintain near our hearts.

“And top-of-the-line intervals that I’ve personally had and the workforce.”

Hamilton: Last ‘hammer time’ was second it clicked for me

Hamilton had a giant slice of misfortune on Saturday when he was knocked out in Q1 after operating over a bollard, so began sixteenth.

He was the one driver to begin on the hards, so ran lengthy within the first stint earlier than occurring a late-race cost on the mediums, overtaking Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and made a courageous transfer on team-mate Russell on the ultimate lap.

Hamilton’s engineer Peter Bonnington turned well-known for his “it is hammer time Lewis” radio message to his driver after they have been preventing for victories, which was a sign to push exhausting earlier than a pit cease. Bonnington delivered that message for a final time in Abu Dhabi, which was a particular second for Hamilton.

“I feel when Bono mentioned it was ‘hammer time’ [during the pit stop phase], I did discover within the second, I used to be like ‘that is the final time I will hear that.’ It actually clicked for me in that second,” Hamilton informed Sky Sports activities F1.

“It was a very, actually exhausting race – naturally – from the place I used to be, and I did not get as nice a begin as this one right here [Charles Leclerc], my new team-mate.

“And that first stint was actually, actually tough. I wasn’t shedding hope, I used to be identical to, ‘Oh, not going in addition to I believed it could.’

“However I simply did not surrender, I simply stored pushing, like ‘Come on, we will get there’ after which switched on to the completely different tyres, and the automobile got here alive – however I had a large hole to shut, so I simply centered on simply getting completely all the pieces from the automobile and never giving up.

“I wished to complete on as a lot of a excessive and simply give each ounce of me to the workforce, as they’ve given to me all these years.”

He added to F1 TV: “I’ll miss everybody. I am unable to inform you how a lot I’ll miss them. It is going to be an enormous quantity as a result of I’ve labored with them day-after-day for the previous 12 years. There’s loads of love inside this workforce and that is not going wherever.”

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