Lewis Hamilton is set to make his last appearance for Mercedes this weekend, a moment nobody thought would come so soon a year ago. But all good things do come to an end, and so does the two-decade-long association between Hamilton and Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion was eager to finish his time with Mercedes on a high note. But so far that hasn’t happened with him facing issues with his W15 every weekend.
Mercedes has remained receptive to Hamilton’s criticism but largely failed to improve. But now, Andrew Shovlin claims that the Silver Arrows are focused on giving a better car to Hamilton to end things on a strong note.
“We’re putting all our effort into making sure we can finish with a strong result, because of all the things we could do to celebrate Lewis’ time with the team, a strong finish is probably the one that he would be most grateful to receive,” said Shovlin on Mercedes’ Youtube channel.
Apart from the boost in performance, Shovlin reveals that there will be other tributes to Hamilton across the week, including the 150 fan names on his livery. Meanwhile, Maranello are all set to welcome Hamilton. Despite Hamilton’s lack of performances this year, Fred Vasseur isn’t regretting his decision.
Hamilton can never lose it
While Hamilton struggled, George Russell has been better able to extract performances in the same car. The deficit in results cast some doubts over Hamilton’s abilities.
But Vasseur has shown his faith in Hamilton by saying, “Have a look at the 50 laps that he did in Vegas. Starting P10, finishing on the gearbox of [George] Russell, I’m not worried at all.”
Vasseur is not alone in keeping faith in Hamilton. Even fierce rival Max Verstappen has maintained that Hamilton can never lose it. Verstappen pointed out that the issues in the car are restricting the Briton, and whenever Hamilton has had an opportunity to perform, he did.
Nevertheless, Hamilton is fortunate to sign for Ferrari at a time when they will most likely be contesting for the title. If things go right, he’ll record himself as a legend in Maranello by giving them a title after 17 years.
