Mercedes have shared an insight into how Lewis Hamilton left a special handwritten note for Kimi Antonelli in what will be the rookie’s new driver room, with the seven-time world champion making the gesture after saying an “emotional” goodbye to the room ahead of his exit from the team.
After his switch to Ferrari for 2025 was confirmed back in February, Hamilton faced the task of embarking on his final season with the Silver Arrows in the knowledge that certain moments with the team would be their last together.
As such, the Briton’s realisation that he would not spend time in his room in the squad’s European motorhome again after the Italian Grand Prix sparked plenty of emotions, as Race Team Co-ordinator Stephen Lord – one of Hamilton’s closest colleagues – detailed during a special episode of Beyond The Grid.
“It’s quite an interesting insight into Lewis that perhaps people don’t see,” Lord explained. “It was after the race in Monza, obviously the last European round. Lewis was upstairs. He did the engineering debrief.
“In Europe we have the race base, where we have like an engineering suite on the top floor and at the back of the engineering suite, the drivers have their own rooms, so they have a room where they have massage beds and all of their kit is laid out ready. Then they have a bathroom with a shower and a toilet.