Lewis Hamilton issues message to fans as he nears ‘end of one chapter, start of another’

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton looks forward to sporting the names of 150 lucky fans on his Mercedes W15 in his final race with the team.

Hamilton and Mercedes have made history together since his 2013 move, Hamilton winning six of his record-equalling seven World Championship titles in Mercedes colours, while also becoming Formula 1’s most successful driver with his 105 grand prix wins among his F1 records – all using Mercedes power, including his time with McLaren. However, this partnership is coming to an end.

150 fans to be part of Lewis Hamilton history

Formula 1 is currently in Las Vegas where the final triple-header to conclude F1 2024 begins, with Abu Dhabi marking the final race for Hamilton as a Mercedes driver as he prepares to make the move to Ferrari.

And as part of their initiatives to mark Hamilton’s farewell, Mercedes has opened a prize draw for fans to enter, which will see the lucky 150 selected have their name appear on Lewis Hamilton’s W15 as he contests one final race weekend with Mercedes in Abu Dhabi.

To enter, fans must simply head over to the Mercedes website and enter their name, email and country where they reside. The prize draw can be accessed here. It is free to enter.

The prize draw will remain open until 23:59 GMT on 26 November. You must be 18 or over to enter.

And in a social media message reacting to Mercedes’ plans, Hamilton wrote: “TeamLH, you’ve always been here. Through all the ups and downs, every step of the way.

“As we get ready to mark the end of one chapter in Abu Dhabi, and the start of another, I can’t think of anything better than carrying as many of your names as possible on my car in the final race of the season.”

Hamilton admitted that in the moment after the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he scored a solitary point in P10, he did not want to see out his final Mercedes season, but the signs are looking more positive in Las Vegas after Hamilton topped both the FP1 and FP2 sessions.

And asked how he was feeling after that positive start, Hamilton replied: “Yeah, pretty good. I mean, it’s the first time that I’ve actually had a day like that, I think, this year.

“The car was feeling really good in [F]P1, P2 less so. We’ve got some work to do overnight, but difficult to know exactly where we are or why we are where we are, but really enjoying driving the track. And I think, yeah, we’ll see whether the car is still the same tomorrow.”

Put to Hamilton that the Mercedes W15 seems to favour cooler conditions, which is certainly the case in a chilly Las Vegas, Hamilton said race pace is still an area which requires work, but at least the W15 did not want to “throw me off”.

“I mean, yeah, hot conditions are a little bit worse for us, but I mean, the race pace is not that great,” he said, “so the work we’ve got to do overnight is to try and figure out how we can have better race pace, without losing actual pace throughout the lap.

“But, as I said, it was nice to get, like, consecutive sectors and the car not throw me off.

“I’m feeling good in myself. Like I said coming into this weekend, I know it’s not my driving and so I’ve just got to work hard overnight, not to make big changes and hopefully get some good rest tonight and come back strong tomorrow.”