The last time Lewis Hamilton was crowned champion, he had to wait until the last race of the season, which was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This year, though, he comes to the United Arab Emirates having already won the title, so he can afford to fool around a little.
Considering how his teammate Nico Rosberg has won the last two races of the season - with Hamilton coming second ever time - the Brit will probably want to end the year on a high and win the race on Sunday. It’s a morale booster that might carry on to the next season, one he’ll have to start fighting hard once again if he wants to win it.
On the other hand, he won’t want to push too hard, as the most important thing, after all, is to finish the race and start the celebrations. He’s a competitive guy, but he’s not as reckless as he once was.
Still, with one or two days left until the first practice sessions, Hamilton had some spare time to meet with a group of Petronas employees as a symbolic thank you gesture to all those who made this year’s MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS success possible.
After a short speech and an impromptu contest, the eight winners got the chance to join the three-times Formula One champion on a trip outside the city and into the desert. Their prize was a dune buggying session together with Lewis Hamilton, who seemed to enjoy himself well enough considering all the jumps and power slides.
Driving a dune buggy on sand is one of the furthest things possible from Formula One that still has four wheels and an engine, but that doesn’t mean it took Hamilton too long to start having some serious fun. You can imagine safety was a priority, though, as even if the championship is already won, the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team still needed its main driver in one piece.
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