Did Lewis Hamilton Enter Mercedes Garage by Mistake?

When Lewis Hamilton moved to Ferrari at the start of 2025, he understandably had to adapt to many changes. A new team in a new country, a car powered by an engine he had never driven in F1 before—it was a significant culture shock for the Briton, who is still adjusting.

However, amid his efforts to settle in, Hamilton has held on to some of his old habits—for instance, riding a scooter around the paddock during race weekends.

Hamilton wouldn’t just move around for the sake of it. It was his way of getting from one place to another. Mostly, they would end with him rolling the scooter into the Mercedes garage, something he ended up doing at the Chinese GP weekend. To be clear, he entered the Mercedes garage dressed in red. Not Ferrari, which is now his home.

It seemed like a hilarious mistake—one reminiscent of the 2013 season when Hamilton accidentally drove into the McLaren pit box despite being a Mercedes driver, the very team he left to join the Silver Arrows that year.

Why Hamilton actually went in, however, no one knows. But one thing is certain—it wasn’t a mistake. The seven-time champ casually acknowledged a Mercedes crew member who was standing by the door before he went inside, showing that he’s still on good terms with most of the team.

However, that didn’t stop fans from joking about the 40-year-old. One fan commented on X (formerly Twitter), “Lewis is checking if there’s an old contract left there”—a direct dig at Ferrari, suggesting that Hamilton might already regret joining the team, especially since Mercedes has been performing better this season so far.

Another fan joked that Hamilton was perhaps looking for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to see if his former team needed a driver—a clear suggestion that if the move to Ferrari fails, the clip of him scootering into the garage could easily become a meme.

Regardless, it’s clear that Hamilton still gets along well with many people at the Brackley-based outfit. It will take time for him to fully move on from the team he spent 12 years with—if he ever does. And Mercedes, too, has had trouble doing the same.

Bono referred to Antonelli as Hamilton

Some habits, like Hamilton scootering around the paddock, remain unchanged even when circumstances do. Although Peter Bonnington now oversees race engineering duties for Kimi Antonelli, he still seems to have Hamilton on his mind—understandable, given that he was the Briton’s voice in his ear throughout his career.

While communicating with Antonelli during Chinese GP qualifying, Bonnington accidentally said, “Copy that, Lewis,” before quickly realizing his mistake and correcting himself.

Fans were quick to notice the mistake, pointing out how Bonnington still hasn’t fully moved on from Hamilton. Similarly, Hamilton also reflected on his former race engineer after qualifying a disappointing eighth in the season opener in Australia.

Following heated exchanges with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, over the radio, Hamilton admitted that adjusting without Bono—who understood him well—would take time. “They’ve done a great job, but in the past, I would say, ‘Bono, this is what I want. That setting, this setting,’” he explained. “And I can’t do that at the moment.”

However, with time, he will surely develop a strong relationship with Adami. He has to, if he wants to succeed at Ferrari.