Lewis Hamilton has been labelled as a ‘class act’ over his wholesome parting gift to Mercedes’ 3,000 employees.
The 40-year-old enjoyed 12 successful seasons with the Formula 1 team having joined in 2013 – winning six world championships.
He also helped Mercedes scoop eight Constructors’ Championships before linking up with Ferrari ahead of the upcoming 2025 season.
But despite Mercedes preparing for the post-Hamilton era, the Silver Arrows will always have something to remember him by.
That is because the British legend commissioned artist Paul Oz to design a picture of him in action that could proudly be hung at Mercedes’ Brackley headquarters.
A highly-regarded motorsport artist and sculptor, it was Oz that created the busts of Bruce McLaren, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna and James Hunt at McLaren’s base in Woking.
Hamilton’s only request was that the painting must be about the car rather than himself, with Oz drawing inspiration of the Arsenal fan from the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix.
And while that oil painting is hanging proudly at their Brackley HQ, each of Mercedes’ staff members have received their own print.
Unveiling the painting on Instagram, Oz said: “Now that it’s public knowledge and all 3,000 Mercedes GP employees have received their prints of this, I can talk about it.
“Commissioned by Lewis himself as a departing present for everybody at Mercedes… class act!
“My only remit was that I should focus on the car rather than Lewis, and so I chose to paint an image from Monaco 2019, just a few days after Niki Lauda passed and the team ran a red halo to remember Niki.
“Lewis stuck it on pole then dominated the race.
“Incidentally this is therefore also the exact same day that Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] called me in to discuss creating a Niki bronze statue to stand next to his car on the MTC boulevard.
“To me, this is where the magic happens, when things come full circle, after spending almost two decades celebrating Lewis in paint, even after all that has happened in recent years, that’s a little tough to get my head around.
“This original oil painting now hangs in Brackley.”
While Hamilton has left on good terms at Mercedes, his show-stopping photoshoot outside Enzo Ferrari’s iconic house at the team’s Maranello headquarters left an impression on Toto Wolff.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Mercedes team principal said: “It’s a little bit like when you divorce amicably, and it’s all good, and then you see your partner for the first time with a new friend.
“But I’m really happy for him, and I told him that those pictures were iconic that he made.
“It was so well curated and no surprise with Lewis.”
Hamilton’s pre-season preparations haven’t exactly gone to plan as he suffered a ‘minor’ crash in his second outing behind a Ferrari.
Though thankfully, he was unhurt after the incident having hit a barrier in the final sector at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Hamilton will hope to have a smoother drive when he and the rest of the F1 grid descends on Bahrain for pre-season testing, which takes place from February 26 to 28.