Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton piles praise on Vettel in WHOLESOME exit speech

Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to a fellow F1 champion as he bid farewell to Mercedes

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 16 December 2024 09:57 Updated: 17:40

Formula 1 icon Lewis Hamilton has delivered heaps of praise towards fellow champion Sebastian Vettel during a speech ahead of his Mercedes team exit.

Hamilton shocked the sporting world in February this year by announcing that he would be leaving the Silver Arrows after 12 years with the outfit, instead opting to sign for Vettel's former team, Ferrari.

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Vettel raced alongside Kimi Raikkonen from 2014 until 2019 when the Finnish racer was replaced by Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton will now join the Scuderia from 2025, following in Vettel's footsteps by partnership the Monegasque driver.

After 12 years with Mercedes, Hamilton and Toto Wolff's outfit have become the most successful partnership in F1 history, securing 14 titles across the drivers' and constructors' championships.

Sebastian Vettel drove alongside Charles Leclerc during his time at Ferrari

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Whilst Hamilton will no doubt be looking forward to a fresh start with the Scuderia after a largely woeful final season with Mercedes, he did delay his debut in red by committing to a farewell tour for his current team with visits to Kuala Lumpur, Stuttgart, Brixworth and Brackley.

In one of his many exit speeches, the 39-year-old took the opportunity to share his admiration for former Ferrari star and four-time champion Vettel.

In a video shared on social media platform 'X', Hamilton could be heard praising his former colleague and companion.

Sebastian Vettel has dedicated life outside of F1 to championing for climate change and other important causes

"He's the best world champion that I know because he's far more than a driver.

"He's someone with real passion, he's empathetic and he cares for people." Hamilton admitted.

"He actually is the only other one that's tried to utilise his platform for something good."

Hamilton's comments over Vettel's work outside of F1 refer to his climate change campaigning and taking a stand over equality in the sport.

"I've met so many celebrities and so many people and there's a lot of people that don't take time for others and I think for me that makes me- doesn't matter how good he drives, because he's so quick anyways, we had great races together, but I think for me, we had the best races together."

🎥 || Lewis Hamilton talks about Sebastian Vettel.

"Seb is the best world champion that I know because he's far more than a driver. He's someone with real passion, he's empathetic and he cares for people."

"He actually is the only other one that's tried to utilise his platform… pic.twitter.com/kIzL6p48Oz
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) December 10, 2024

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here she realised her background in journalism and love of motorsport could be combined, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work more closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan which she hopes to build on.

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Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Formula 1 Toto Wolff Sebastian Vettel