The last waltz
One last race, one last round of applause for the year and, for some, a farewell to the team colours they've worn for a significant part of their career, while for others, it's a case of adieu to Formula 1 itself. That's the case at this sixteenth running of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for three of the current field of 20 drivers. It will be Valtteri Bottas' last performance with Sauber and, at the moment, there is no news as to what his future might hold. Despite the fact the Finn has taken part in 245 Grands Prix, winning ten of them, taken 20 pole positions and 67 podium finishes, there is no place for him on the 2025 grid. At the most, there might be a role as reserve driver for Mercedes, the team with which he secured all his wins. Therefore, while it's not written in stone that his F1 statistics won't change, it's equally true that, next year, there will be no Finns on the grid for the first time since 1988.
For Kevin Magnussen, this will be the second time he bids farewell to Formula 1. The Dane, who is about to tackle his 185th Grand Prix, his 145th with Haas, already said goodbye to the circus in 2020, but then got the call-back from the American team at the start of 2022 to replace Russia's Nikita Mazepin because of sanctions imposed by the FIA following the outbreak of war between his country and Ukraine. Magnussen's best ever result is a second place in Melbourne, on his Formula 1 debut at the wheel of a McLaren. In 2025, he races in WEC with the factory BMW team.
Next year, Magnussen's Haas seat is being taken by Esteban Ocon, but for the Frenchman there will be no fond farewell at Alpine, his home for the past four seasons, if one includes the year it was known as Renault and for whom he brought home the only win of its troubled history in Hungary in 2021. He was given his marching orders by Alpine last Monday, the day after the Qatar Grand Prix. Franco Colapinto looks set to have a future in Formula 1, but the question is when. The Argentinian made his debut with Williams alongside Alex Albon in Monza and this Sunday's race will be his ninth Grand Prix. However, well before all that, the English team had already signed Carlos Sainz for next year and while the rumours have been doing the rounds, there is no definite news right now.
As for the aforementioned Sainz, this weekend is particularly emotional, because Ferrari has been his home for the past four seasons, the longest time he has spent with one team. The Spaniard has won four Grands Prix with the Italian team, including his very first one and has also picked up six pole positions and 24 podium finishes to add to two previous ones with McLaren. He had thought he would stay with the Prancing Horse for some time yet, but in Maranello, they wanted Hamilton. Sainz held out for a while for a drive with another top team, but in the end he had to gamble on Williams. He won't find it easy adapting to the second division again after tasting life at the top, but Sainz's incredible determination will help him deal with that. For the next couple of days he will be doing his utmost to try and bring the Constructors' title back to Maranello, it's a very long shot, but still mathematically possible at least.
And now we come to the most significant farewell of the Abu Dhabi weekend. It's a special moment for Lewis Hamilton as he spends his last days with Mercedes, the team with which he has become the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time. The walls of their garage at the Yas Marina circuit bear the legend, “Every dream needs a team.” Hamilton's success is not just down to his talent but also to everything Mercedes has done for him since 2013, not only in terms of the tools to get the job done – the car, the engineers, the mechanics – but also in terms of allowing him to grow and express himself and his own personality.
Lewis was already a winner when he came to Brackley, having won the 2008 world title and 21 Grands Prix with McLaren. But with Mercedes, he became a global superstar, capable of inspiring so many youngsters and of taking the sport into uncharted territory, which seemed unthinkable ten years ago. His record with the Three Pointed Star is impressive: 245 races, 84 wins, 78 pole positions and 153 podium finishes. But above all there are those eight Constructors' and six Drivers' titles. The numbers are even better than those achieved by Michael Schumacher with Ferrari and of course, it's with the Maranello team that Hamilton will be trying to clinch the eight title, the one he feels was unjustly taken away from him by the Race Director, actually here in Abu Dhabi three years ago. It's going to be a far from easy task for the Englishman, who will find himself in a totally different environment to anything he has experienced so far, because even those who aren't fans of the team recognise that Ferrari is something special. Hamilton knows it and that's what makes the challenge even greater.
