Hamilton ten years with Mercedes, team looks back on first day

Mercedes has shared footage of Lewis Hamilton's first day with the team. To celebrate that Hamilton has now been with the team for 10 years, the team showed a look back at his first day on Twitter.

Ten years ago, Mercedes made major changes to its internal organisation. Toto Wolff was removed from the Williams board to join Mercedes as team boss, and Hamilton was brought in as a driver. Until then, Mercedes had had few successes on the track. The team had only managed to win one race in previous years, and in the standings, Mercedes always finished fourth and fifth. And this was despite the fact that there was plenty of potential in the team: seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was one of the drivers, Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda was on the board, and the renowned Ross Brawn was team boss.

Hamilton was Schumacher's successor

In 2012, Schumacher decided not to renew his contract, so a replacement had to be found. That replacement was found in Hamilton, who could still compete for the title with McLaren in 2012. At Mercedes, Hamilton took his place alongside Nico Rosberg and although the first year was not yet a resounding success, Hamilton and Mercedes dominated the subsequent seasons.

On this day years ago, @lewishamilton’s very first day with the Team. And well, you know the rest… pic.twitter.com/0GWKlRJQe3

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) January 24, 2023