A record-tying World Driver's Championships winner, Lewis Hamilton's dreamy stint with Mercedes is finally coming to a close with his contract ending at the end of this year. The Brit and the German team enjoyed incredible success together, winning 84 Grand Prixs and eight successive Constructors titles. Hamilton also won his six out of seven world titles with Mercedes and bid adieu to the team on a high note following his fourth-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.
Despite being the most successful association in Formula One history, Hamilton was left clueless at times due to Mercedes' game plan that even cost him podium finishes at numerous instances. As the British icon joins Scuderia Ferrari for a multiyear contract, here is a look back at the times when Hamilton's race results were compromised by Mercedes' strategies -
3. 2015 Monaco Grand Prix
After dominating the qualifying session at the Circuit de Monaco, Hamilton started the Monaco event in the pole position, but at the end of the race, the 39-year-old driver looked visibly frustrated as Toto Wolff and staff miscalculated the gap and asked him to box while the safety car was deployed during that race. This made Hamilton lose two positions and ultimately resulted in him finishing P3 while his then-teammate Nico Rosberg grabbed P1.
2. 2023 US Grand Prix
A Red Bull and Max Verstappen-dominated season gave a rare opportunity to Lewis Hamilton and his team during the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, where Hamilton was in contention for P1 over Verstappen, but Mercedes chose to cover the one-stop strategy of Lando Norris in P3, without taking the chance for the one-stop strategy to challenge the Dutch driver for P1. In the end, Hamilton finished in P2, just two seconds behind race-winner Verstappen.
1. 2024 Singapore Grand Prix
The 105-time race winner once again fell prey to another questionable strategy of Mercedes AMG Petronas during the Singapore stop of the Formula One World Championships, where Hamilton had started in P3 after an impressive drive during the qualifying sessions at the Marina Bay track. However, all of his hard work for a podium finish went in vain when the team decided to race with soft tires, a plan to grab some positions off the line. The higher temperatures and degradation made Hamilton finish in P6, a disappointing 85 seconds behind McLaren F1's race winner Lando Norris.
Lewis Hamilton who is seven time World Champion and had a considerable success with Mercedes is all set to move to Ferrari in 2025 marking one of the biggest storylines in Formula One history. Hamilton will join Charles Leclerc as his partner in Ferrari. The first race of the season will be held on March 16th in Australia.