Allison says Hamilton provided inspiration even after a bad qualifying in Abu Dhabi
Mercedes technical director James Allison says the team enjoyed a “fantastic run” with Lewis Hamilton despite the frustration of the lack of a “fairy tale ending” with a win or podium in the 2024 Abu Dhabi finale.
Hamilton started his final race with the team from only 16th on the grid after hitting a loose bollard in Q1.
However after starting on the hard tyres he moved up to fourth, passing team mate George Russell on the final lap, before an emotional celebration on the grid after the flag.
“I think it would be very hard to summarise such a complex set of feelings,” said Allison when asked about Hamilton’s departure.
“We would of course love this whole season, let alone the last race, to be more of a fairy tale ending to a partnership that has set all the benchmarks in F1.
“It would have been fitting if we could have finished on the podium, at the very least or ideally on the top step, but that was not to be.
“That said, I think it could not have been more well handled by Lewis and by the team and I think that owes a massive amount to the respect that there is between Lewis and the team and the huge amount of appreciation for everything we have achieved together.”
Allison admitted that it had been a difficult weekend for both Hamilton and the team, with the stray bollard restricting to him to what was initially P18 but which became 16th on the final grid.
However Hamilton did his best to motivate the team, despite his personal frustration.
“Qualifying was a difficult time for Lewis in this event with his run-in with the bollard,” he said.
“He was disappointed, we were even more disappointed for him, and yet in the debrief afterwards when we were down in the mouth he was telling us, ‘Look, put your chins up, we’re going to make the most of tomorrow and remember all the times when we’ve got this right together.’
“I think that is what it feels like. We have had some difficult seasons recently, but over the span of this relationship no other driver-team partnership has come close to matching what we have done together.
“It has just been a fantastic run for all of us, and we could not wish him more well than we did on that last day together.”
Allison indicated that but for the bollard Hamilton could have been in top three contention.
“It is possible, yes,” he said. “I think he had been pretty speedy during the weekend prior, and was feeling confident in the car.
“The gaps actually between P5 and the front row were quite small, and had he wiggled his way into Q2 without the untimely intervention of the bollard then I think he would have had a strong qualifying session overall, and then would have been obviously much better placed to fight in the race than eventually he was.”
Regarding Hamilton’s charging race Allison said: “He was running a race which started hard and went medium. Most people in front of him were doing the opposite. They started medium and went hard.
“The hard was a slower tyre until it had done 30-odd laps. Eventually its durability means that it overtakes the medium, but for the large part of its life it is slower than the medium tyre.
“At the beginning of the race he looks comparatively less shiny on the slower rubber, but then when he puts on the medium and his car really sort of comes to life.
“At the very moment that some of the people in front of him are bolting on the hards and suffering the slightly slower tyre, you get the sort of compounding effect of him picking up his pace while the others are muted in pace on a slightly slower tyre.”
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