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Lewis Hamilton completed his Mercedes career at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before joining Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season. Here are some of his best drives for the Silver Arrows.
The Briton stunned the Formula 1 world back in September 2012 when Hamilton confirmed his decision to quit McLaren for Mercedes. It was a call that many scorned at, with the Silver Arrows often a struggling midfield team after taking control of Brawn GP in the 2010 season.
Yet Hamilton believed in his decision and rightly so, as Mercedes would dominate Formula 1 between 2014 and 2020 following the introduction of 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power units. The Stevenage-born legend won six out of seven drivers’ championships and destroyed records.
A controversial finish to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix denied Hamilton his record-breaking eighth drivers’ championship, a year after matching Michael Schumacher with seven. He looked hopeful to surpass the German in red when joining Ferrari at the start of 2025, but has struggled with the car all season.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 Ferrari move
Hamilton left Brackley with a flurry of Formula 1 records beside his name following an F1 career spent exclusively using Mercedes engines since his debut in 2007. Hamilton also won 84 of his record 105 Grands Prix with the team, plus 78 of his record 104 pole positions.
Mercedes had even seen Hamilton stand on 153 of his record 202 podiums from 245 of his then 355 Grand Prix entries, ahead of his last time driving with the Silver Arrows at the 2024 Abu Dhabi GP. But what were Hamilton’s best drives with Mercedes? F1 Oversteer takes a look…
7) Lewis Hamilton dominated the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix for his first win with Mercedes
As well as marking Hamilton’s first season at Mercedes, the 2013 campaign was also the last one in which Formula 1 ran V8 engines. It was also the last time that Red Bull dominated the championship until 2022 as Sebastian Vettel won 13 of the 19 Grands Prix for his fourth title.
Lotus with Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari due to Fernando Alonso and Mercedes with Nico Rosberg each won one Grand Prix in the first nine rounds. But Hamilton sealed the last win by a non-Red Bull driver – or more precisely by Vettel – in round 10 at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Hungarian GP marked Hamilton’s first victory with Mercedes and was also a warning for what was to come as he dominated at the Hungaroring. After beating Vettel to pole position by just 0.038 seconds, Hamilton survived the German and Raikkonen’s pressure to triumph.
Hamilton was rarely genuinely under pressure for the race win and took the chequered flag 10.938s ahead of Raikkonen and 12.459s to Vettel. It would be one of five Hungarian Grand Prix victories that Hamilton would get with Mercedes alongside 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
6) Lewis Hamilton perfectly ended his 945-day drought to win the 2024 British Grand Prix
Mercedes dropped the ball when F1 re-introduced ground effect regulations in 2022 and the team’s zero-pod philosophy set the Silver Arrows on the wrong path for two seasons. It even caused Hamilton to endure the first winless season of his F1 career in 2022 in his 16th term.
Another winless season followed in 2023, as well, and a third appeared likely in 2024 as Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari started the year strongly. But after claiming his first podium of the term at the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton finally ended a drought of 945 days at Silverstone.
After going 56 Grand Prix without a win, Hamilton claimed a record ninth British Grand Prix victory at his final home race for Mercedes with a sensational drive in mixed conditions. He was not the fastest Silver Arrow in qualifying but made the difference throughout the race.
Teammate George Russell pipped compatriot Hamilton to pole position for the 2024 British GP by 0.171s for a Mercedes front-row lock-out. But as umbrellas started to rise all around Silverstone, it was Hamilton’s time to shine on Lap 18 of the 52 with a great run into Stowe.
Russell did not have an answer to Hamilton’s run out of Chapel and soon lost second place to Lando Norris into The Loop on the following lap as the rainfall intensified. The rain gifted McLaren the advantage and Norris claimed the lead of the British GP into Abbey on Lap 20.
Hamilton would even slip to third place as Oscar Piastri shuffled through before the field hit the pit lane for intermediate tyres. Yet the home favourite judged the return to slick tyres to perfection on Lap 38. Mercedes, however, opted to bolt on the soft tyres to Hamilton’s car.
Dry tyres and a drying track swung the momentum back in Hamilton’s favour and he sealed the lead of the British GP again on L40 once Norris boxed for softs. Yet the hard tyres which Red Bull gave Max Verstappen were the ones to be on for the final stages of the British GP.
Verstappen made light work of breezing past Norris for P2 and set about catching Hamilton in the lead. But, at the circuit where the pit straight is named after him, Hamilton kept calm to weather the Dutchman’s storm for a record ninth British Grand Prix victory by just 1.534s.
5) Lewis Hamilton swung the 2018 title race away from Sebastian Vettel at the German Grand Prix
Vettel helped Ferrari to emerge as drivers’ championship contenders for the first time since 2012 during the 2017 season but missed out to Hamilton and Mercedes by 46 points. But it laid the foundations for the German to start the 2018 campaign strongly with the Scuderia.
Victory at Silverstone in round 10 of the 21 also put Vettel eight points clear of Hamilton on 171 to 163 heading to his home race, the German Grand Prix. He even took pole position at Hockenheim as Hamilton had to settle for 14th place on the grid due to a hydraulic failure.
Hamilton cut a disconsolate figure as he parked up in the entrance to the pit lane and made the walk back to Mercedes’ garage in qualifying. But his frown was more than turned upside down with one of the best drives of Hamilton’s Mercedes era to win their home Grand Prix.
Vettel had the race under control as Hamilton stormed through the order to put pressure on the podium places. But as rain started to drench the track, the German cracked as Hamilton hounded his rivals and lost control at the Sachs Kurve hairpin entering the Stadium section.
It was the decisive moment in the title fight as Vettel blew his chance at home glory and also gifted Hamilton the chance to take advantage. Yet Mercedes nearly let it go when the safety car was brought out to recover the Ferrari driver’s car by sending Hamilton mixed radio calls.
Mercedes had already rolled the dice with Hamilton’s strategy once when he made a set of soft tyres last 42 laps before pitting for ultra-softs despite the threat of rain. Then came the call to stop under the SC, before to stay out and then Peter Bonnington cried ‘In, in, in, in!’
Hamilton had to scupper across the grass as he aborted pitting before his engineer’s sudden call to stop again. Yet staying out proved to be the right call, as Hamilton kept his car on the road as conditions improved and went on to win to get a 17-point lead in the championship.
4) Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 British Grand Prix with three tyres on his Mercedes
Hamilton was in a class of his own as Silverstone held the British Grand Prix as the first of its two races in the 2020 Formula 1 season. The home icon blitzed the field to get pole position by 0.313 seconds to Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and by 1.022s to Verstappen in P3.
He quickly scuppered clear of Bottas to build an advantage and survived multiple safety car restarts as Alex Albon spun Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat crashed heavily at Maggotts. But the outlook of the race started to change on Lap 48/52 when Raikkonen got a puncture.
Raikkonen suffered the first of a raft of late-race punctures as he passed through Maggotts before Bottas saw his Pirelli rubber blow on L50. Red Bull reacted to their punctures and had Verstappen pit as a precaution yet left the Dutchman over 30s from Hamilton on the last lap.
It was not the end of the drama, though, as Carlos Sainz was the next driver to see their tyre give up. And shortly after Hamilton also suffered a puncture through Copse that left the race leader with half of Silverstone left to tour with three tyres on his car as Verstappen set chase.
Verstappen rapidly closed in on Hamilton as the Mercedes driver sparked his way around his final lap in a desperate bid to hold on to win the 2020 British Grand Prix. And while covid-19 made Silverstone shut fans out, Hamilton delighted those at home by holding on by 5.856s.
3) Lewis Hamilton won his seventh drivers’ title in iconic style at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix
Formula 1 revived the Turkish Grand Prix in its search for replacement races due to covid-19 measures forcing the deletion of other rounds in 2020. But the return of the iconic Istanbul Park for the first time since 2011 even raised its own challenge due to its recent resurfacing.
Istanbul Park saw the completion of its full track resurfacing just two weeks before the 2020 Turkish GP. It meant an ice rink, more than a race track, awaited F1 for round 14 as the track surface offered very little grip. Rain in qualifying and the race would also only make it worse.
Racing Point driver Lance Stroll stunned the field to secure his maiden pole position in F1 at a rain-soaked 2020 Turkish GP ahead of Verstappen by 0.290 seconds. Hamilton would only qualify P6 on the weekend he could match Schumacher as a seven-time drivers’ champion.
Bottas had to outscore Hamilton by more than seven points to keep the title race alive after the Turkish GP but could also only qualify P9. The Finn’s dreams also took another dent into Turn 1 as he spun on the opening lap trying to avoid the spinning Renault of Esteban Ocon.
His off left Bottas running in last place as Stroll led a Racing Point one-two ahead of Sergio Perez. In contrast, it was a dream start for Hamilton as he shot into third place. But running deep at T9 saw Hamilton slip behind Vettel plus Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Alex Albon.
Hamilton was slipping and sliding all around Istanbul Park as his Mercedes struggled to fire the intermediate tyres up like their rivals. But a cheap mistake from Verstappen gifted him back one place on Lap 18 of 58 when the Dutchman spun trying to follow Perez too closely.
A slow pit stop for Vettel on L33 and Albon spinning on L34 would also help Hamilton’s race whilst Mercedes teammate Bottas continued to run at the rear of the field following further spins. The track starting to grip up on L37 would also see Hamilton fly by Perez for the lead.
Hamilton moved into the lead of the 2020 Turkish GP moments after Stroll made his second pit stop of the race. But the Briton did not need to follow the Canadian and Stroll’s stop cost him dearly. New intermediates left the Racing Point pilot struggling for grip as others sailed.
With just the remaining laps between Hamilton and a record-equalling seventh drivers’ title, it was then the Briton’s time to shine and he stormed clear of Perez – who almost lost P2 at the very end to Charles Leclerc. Hamilton won the 2020 Turkish GP and the title by 31.633s.
2) Lewis Hamilton went from last place in the F1 Sprint to winning the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix
Formula 1 used the Sprint to set the grid for the main race during the 2021 season at a time Hamilton was engaged in a titanic title fight with Verstappen. The Briton even arrived at the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix trailing the Red Bull racer by 19 points with only four rounds left.
To make matters worse for Hamilton in Brazil, the Mercedes driver was disqualified from the qualifying results after claiming pole for the F1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo GP by 0.438s due to a DRS anomaly. He also had a five-place grid penalty for the race after requiring a fifth engine.
So, while Verstappen inherited pole position for the Sprint, Hamilton started the first race in Brazil from 20th on the grid. Fired up by the challenge he met, the Mercedes star dazzled at Interlagos by scything through the field in a brutal fashion to come home in a brilliant fifth.
Verstappen still opened his championship advantage to 21 points with P2 in the Sprint, with Bottas doing Hamilton a favour by winning the qualifying race. But the damage might have been much worse if Hamilton was not a man on a mission, who gained five places on Lap 1.
DRS, with a legal rear wing after Red Bull protested Hamilton’s in qualifying and it was found the gap whilst open was larger than permitted, made many of his moves possible. But a pass on Norris for P5 on the final lap required all of Hamilton’s nous on the inside of the Senna S.
His efforts in the Sprint meant Hamilton started the Sao Paulo GP from P10 following his grid penalty. Yet he still faced losing more points to Verstappen when the Dutchman jumped past Bottas off the line, even with Norris getting an early puncture and shuffling into P7 on Lap 1.
His charge through the field continued at a rapid rate and Hamilton swept beyond Sainz plus Leclerc before Mercedes issued team orders for Bottas to move aside on Lap 5. It took him a little longer to catch the first Red Bull of Perez but P2 was then Hamilton’s on L18 of the 71.
Perez tried to do his bit to help Verstappen but was no match for Hamilton when the Briton swung around the Mexican’s outside into T1. Yet making his move early meant Perez would get DRS and retook the spot into T4, although it proved short-lived with a T1 repeat on L19.
Hamilton had to be patient for his chance to attack Verstappen but one finally arose on L48 with DRS into Descida do Lago. But, in typical Verstappen fashion, the Dutchman refused to accept the position was gone and drove them both clear off the road yet escaped a penalty.
It would take Hamilton until L58 to try another move, but backed out into T4 to avoid being run off the road again. Yet it was game on the next time around and the Mercedes ace shot through with DRS, before slamming the door in Verstappen’s face to secure the inside of T4.
Verstappen had no answer to Hamilton’s pace as the Briton charged on to win the 2021 Sao Paulo GP by 10.496s, slashing the championship gap to 14 points with one of his best drives for Mercedes. But the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi GP crowned Verstappen the champion.
1) Lewis Hamilton beat Nico Rosberg in the Duel in the Desert at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
Mercedes dominating F1’s introduction of 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power units saw the drivers’ championship fight be an in-house battle between Rosberg and Hamilton in 2014. The fight also truly kicked off at the Bahrain Grand Prix, after each had won in Australia and Malaysia.
The 2014 Bahrain GP also marked the point where Hamilton and Rosberg’s relationship that started as childhood friends in go-karts started to sour. Rosberg even left Hamilton thinking, ‘This can’t be right’ during the 2014 Bahrain GP by using a power mode the Briton was not.
Hamilton started the race as he meant to go on by stealing the lead into T1 from pole-sitter Rosberg. He even got the Briton’s elbows out to deny the German a chance to reply around the outside at T4. But after controlling the early laps, Hamilton was under pressure on L18.
Rosberg made a late dive into T1 to steal the lead of the 2014 Bahrain GP back before they had to pit. Yet, with the switchback, Hamilton remained ahead and it enraged the German who cried, ‘That was not on’ over the radio. So, Rosberg tried another move into T1 on L19.
This time, the German got ahead through the first few corners but Hamilton refused to drop back. So, the Briton fought back and he sealed the inside line for T6 as they burst back down the hill. It was also crucial as Mercedes brought Hamilton in to pit first at the end of that lap.
New medium tyres let Hamilton control the Bahrain GP again. Yet his race was flipped on its head on L33 when Pastor Maldonado flipped Esteban Gutierrez at T1 and triggered a safety car. Rosberg even used the SC as his chance to stop for soft tyres and Hamilton could not.
The fight for victory in what became known as the Duel in the Desert was then on from the restart on Lap 47 of 57 as Rosberg got the run on Hamilton out of Turn 3. But Hamilton kept his elbows out once again to delay the fight until Rosberg tried his luck into T1 again on L52.
Hamilton could not understand quite how Rosberg kept attempting to overtake him from so far back into T1, even with the aid of DRS. The German torpedoed his way down the inside, but only by using engine modes that offered more power – which the Briton was not using.
Yet, for all of Rosberg’s attempts, Hamilton had an answer. He held onto the inside line at T4 on L52 before forcing the German wide on the exit to negate the tyre disparity and used the switchback at T1 on L53. Hamilton went on to pip Rosberg to win the Bahrain GP by 1.085s.
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