Lewis Hamilton delivers “very surreal” response to final Mercedes F1 car launch

Lewis Hamilton has described being at his 12th - and final - Mercedes F1 car launch as "very surreal" ahead of his move to Ferrari in 2025.

2024 will be Hamilton’s final season at Mercedes, bringing an end to F1’s greatest driver-team combination.

Hamilton has won six of his seven drivers’ championships with Mercedes, also moving ahead of Michael Schumacher in the all-time winners list during his time with the team.

However, Hamilton will move to Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc in 2025, fulfilling a "childhood dream".

Hamilton will be keen to leave Mercedes on a high, particularly as he’s not won a race since 2021.

Mercedes pulled the covers off the W15 - their 2024 F1 challenger - on Wednesday morning.

During the launch, Hamilton conceded the last couple of weeks around his Ferrari announcement have been "emotional".

"It’s been emotional," he said. "It’s very surreal to be here given I came here in 2013. 11 years with the team starting my 12th.

"It’s such a privilege to work with a group of people where you see the work they’re doing over the winter, going through this process over the last couple of years. You see a car come together at the beginning of the year. 

"It’s the most exciting part of the season. You’re seeing everyone’s launches, this is the first time I have seen the car come together as a whole. 

"To know that everything is under the hood which people don’t get to see, but George and I get to experience on the track, it’s exciting."

The main goal for Hamilton in 2024 is to get Mercedes “back to where we once were”.

"The focus through the whole of winter training is first - getting the team back to where we once were. I think we’ve had this difficult couple of years which has been really grounding for us. It’s helped us re-group. 

"We’ve had to re-look at things. It’s now just going through the important process. Being really diligent with our work, understanding the data, understanding the car, maximising from practice, even just the one lap we get in the rain today. It might give George and I a bit of a feeling of what’s to come."