Lewis Hamilton finishes fourth in final drive for Mercedes

The seven-time world champion started 16th on the grid after a combination of a stray bollard and a mistake team principal Toto Wolff labelled “idiotic” saw him suffer an early elimination from qualifying.

But Hamilton worked his way through the field in Abu Dhabi, charging after team-mate George Russell in the closing stages and making a final-lap move which secured fourth in his final race for the team.

Hamilton, who will join Ferrari next season, has won six of his seven titles during his 12 years with the Silver Arrows.

His race engineer Peter Bonnington used his trademark “hammer time” instruction to unleash Hamilton to chase after Russell and come home in fourth.

“I think when he said it was ‘hammer time’ I was like, ‘that’s the last time I’m going to hear that’. It really clicked for me in that moment,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.

“It was a really hard race. I didn’t get as great a start as my new team-mate (Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc). The first stint was really difficult.

“I wasn’t losing hope, it wasn’t quite going as well as I thought it would. But I didn’t give up, we kept pushing. Switched on to the different tyres and the car came alive.

“I was just giving absolutely everything to the car. I wanted to finish on as much of a high and give every ounce of me to the team as they’ve given me all of these years.”

Hamilton was emotional on the team radio after completing his final lap, addressing his team as Wolff said his drive was “that of a world champion”.

“We dreamed alone but together we believed,” Hamilton said over the radio. “Thank you for all the courage, the determination, the passion for supporting me.

“What started out as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books.”