Lewis Hamilton leaving Mercedes: ‘A bittersweet ending, but the achievements remain indelible’

Hamilton’s legacy with Mercedes is about more than on-track performance and breaking records. He has led a push for more diversity and inclusion – not just at Mercedes but in F1 as a whole.

As F1’s only black driver, and its most celebrated figure, Hamilton has a unique platform, and has been determined to use it for good.

“The thing I am most proud of,” Hamilton says, “when I think about what I leave behind, I hope in a positive way, is the work we have done with diversity and inclusion.

“From the first moment sitting down with Toto, him and the whole team being open-minded. They have all gone on diversity and inclusion courses.

“We have a very diverse team now, which is something I am really grateful to have been a part of.

“I said to Toto: ‘When I leave the team, there is going to be no-one in the room having these cool conversations with you, because I am the one, and I hope you continue them.’ And he said he would.”

Wolff says: “He was definitely someone who gave impulses and changed things and did things.

“Mercedes knows its responsibility on the topics of diversity and fighting racism or antisemitism. That has been always something we were absolutely targeting, and this is the responsibility of the group also.

“When he came, we were looking at things from different angles and different perspectives he provided to us.”

Among other changes, Mercedes has instigated a programme called Accelerate 25, which demands that 25% of all new hires come from an under-represented background.

“His influence will have left indelible marks on our team,” Shovlin says. “Not just the work he has done promoting diversity in this team and more widely within F1. But just the values he has, how he goes about his work, his commitment. He’s very open and honest with his emotional side.

“It’s been brilliant that he had the energy to continually do that. Because that wasn’t something he could just say: ‘I’ve got a great idea, let’s do this.’ It has taken a lot of his energy over the years to continually push these topics up the agenda.”