He said his goodbyes and left in tears. Lewis Hamilton’s farewell to Mercedes was tough to accept for both parties, as an 11-year association came to an end following the Abu Dhabi GP last year.
The Briton finally made his long-awaited arrival in Maranello to be presented as a Ferrari driver and has even made several appearances in red, driving older cars in private tests. So, it’s safe to say that Hamilton has moved on.
But has Mercedes?
During day one of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Silver Arrows made a small mistake that showed that not all of Hamilton related stuff had been cleared out of their base in Brackley.
The PM session in Sakhir got interrupted by a power outage, which brought out the red flags. Proceedings were halted, and drivers rolled their cars into the pits, waiting for backup. That’s when a Mercedes mechanic was seen rolling out the team’s power generator, which raised a few eyebrows.
Why? Because it had Hamilton’s racing number 44 on it.
Those in the garage realized what hat happened, as the mechanic quickly scratched the number off. Sadly for him the keen-eyed broadcasting team had already caught it, and pictures went viral on social media in no time.
“You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you,” a fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), hinting at the glittering partnership between Hamilton and Mercedes, which brought home eight world championships for the German team.
You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you etc https://t.co/X859GWbb8o
— risu4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ McLaren WCC (@silverwarspring) February 26, 2025
Some, however, saw the humorous side of things and poked fun at the mechanic for finally doing what he should have done long ago—only at the last moment after being caught.
this is how i feel completing my homework while the teachers going around collecting it https://t.co/WNbWcU7cSn
— maheen (@rosberggs) February 26, 2025
Not a moment Mercedes would want to relive in 2025.
Despite missing Hamilton, Mercedes seem on track for 2025
After three frustrating seasons under the ground effect regulations, Mercedes will be hoping to make the final year of this formula one to remember before regulation changes shake up the grid in 2026. And from early impressions, they just might.
The duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell put in a solid shift on track on day one. Antonelli, a rookie, took the wheel of the W16 in the morning session, topping the timing charts with a lap time of 1:31.428.
Russell took over in the afternoon, slotting in right behind Lando Norris’ MCL39 with a 1:30.587 lap, finishing P2 for the day. The pair logged a combined 148 laps—Antonelli with 78 and Russell with 70—giving Mercedes the third-highest lap count behind RB (154) and Haas (160), showcasing both pace and reliability.
That said, testing times should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Teams often run different programs, fuel loads, and aerodynamic configurations, which can paint a misleading picture on the timing sheets.
A much better picture will be painted in the coming two days after pre-season wraps up.
