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Hamilton Comments On His Incredible Final Lap Overtake On Russell
F1Monday, 09 December 2024 at 15:09
Lewis Hamilton analyzed his last Grand Prix with Mercedes as he spoke to the media after the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Mercedes F1 driver wanted to finish his time with Mercedes on a high at the 24th round of the 2024 season at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
However, he got very unlucky in the qualifying session. Wrong timing and an incident with bollard getting stuck right under his car meant that he had to start the race from P16.
Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion didn't give up, and he gave it all in his final race with Silver Arrows. Starting from P16, he ultimately managed to climb into P4.
During the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we also had the chance to hear the famous radio message "It's hammer time," which means - it's time to push.
Speaking to the media after the race on Sunday, the 39-year-old driver admitted it hit him pretty hard when he realized it would be the last time that he heard the message.
"I think when he said it was 'Hammer Time'’ I did notice at the moment I was like, that's the last time I'm going to hear that. It really clicked for me at that moment."
"It was a really, really hard race, naturally from where I was. I didn't get as great a start as this one here, my new teammate."
Lewis Hamilton was referring to Charles Leclerc, who had the best start in his F1 career. The Ferrari driver started from P19, but he managed to gain 11 positions to get into P8 during the opening lap of the race.
"The first stint was really, really difficult. I wasn't losing hope. I was just like, it's not going as well as I thought it would. But I didn't give up, I kept pushing like come on, we can get there."
At one point, the seven-time world champion could be heard complaining about his hard compound tires on the team radio. However, starting on hard compound allowed him to switch to medium in the second stint, and after that, he was flying.
"Then switched onto the different tires and the car came alive. I had a massive gap to close, so I just focused on getting absolutely everything from the car and not giving up."
"I wanted to finish higher, on as much of a high and just give every ounce of me to the team as they've given to me all these years."
The final result wasn't as good as a podium position, but Hamilton was quite satisfied with the way that he got into P4.
Just one lap before the end of the race, Hamilton was still in P5. On the final lap, he managed to catch up with his teammate George Russell, and with an astonishing move around the outside in turn nine, he claimed the P4. The Mercedes driver said about the overtake:
"I only caught him [Russell] at the end of that last lap, and I was like: 'I've got to make this; it is now or never,' and so I just went for it."
"It is not that I needed the confidence; I've always had the confidence, but it's really nice to finish off with a strong, hard battle and with no mistakes."
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