Lewis Hamilton “in the mix” as “very surreal” Mercedes F1 farewell begins
Mercedes driver talks final Friday of 2024 in Abu Dhabi
Lewis Hamilton believes he is “in the mix” at the 2024 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but admits Friday practice was “very surreal” ahead of his Mercedes farewell.
The seven-time world champion will leave the Mercedes team at the end of this weekend having joined the squad in 2013 to begin F1’s most dominant partnership.
Hamilton ended Friday in Abu Dhabi in strong form, putting his Mercedes fifth, albeit around six tenths off the fastest time, and showing well in race running.
But, on the backdrop of his Mercedes farewell, Hamilton admitted it was a “very surreal” final Friday of the season.
“It felt better today,” he told Sky Sports F1 when asked about his car’s performance in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s not been such a bad day. Very surreal, and I’ve just tried to be really as present as I can be today and just enjoying every moment.
“So, from arriving, to seeing the engineers and really just taking moments and really capturing them as much as I can, and then to getting ready and getting in the car.
“I’ve really enjoyed the day, I’ve really enjoyed driving the car today and working with the guys in the garage and the engineers. We’ve got some work to do.
“The McLaren’s are still so fast, as is Ferrari, but we’re in the mix kind of but have got to find some time.”
Hamilton says he has been “trying to channel” his emotion over his Mercedes exit in improving the car.
“There’s no trick to it, I’m trying to keep my emotions as under control as I can,” he added.
“As I said yesterday I’ve not been great at it this year, I’ve definitely been very up and down.
“It’s human emotion, that’s normal. But I’m really just trying to channel it into the car, into the squad. I have so much love for the team.
“I’ve been wanting to do well for them for ages, but one last go at it. We won’t change too much on the car tonight and hopefully tomorrow we will be there or thereabouts.”
On where Mercedes sit in the pecking order, Hamilton feels he is “a lot closer to the McLarens” in race trim but needs to find more for the time attack in qualifying on Saturday.
“I mean, it’s never that easy to determine, but I think our long run pace didn’t look too bad today,” he said.
“So, I would say that was the big positive from today. I was a lot closer to the McLarens. On a single lap I think we’ve got some work to do.”
