The roller-coaster year of 2021 is coming to a close and so is the Lewis Hamilton-Valtteri Bottas partnership at Mercedes. The duo, despite having to endure a few bitter moments in the past, eventually shaped up to be the best teammates that the team could ask for.

Hence, the Mercedes social media team offered a farewell meme to Bottas before kicking off 2022 with his successor, George Russell.

The meme portrays the ending scene of the seventh edition of the ‘Fast & Furious’ saga; Vin Diesel, one of the lead protagonists, bids his final goodbye to the late Paul Walker, the other protagonist, before the duo heads off on different paths.

Only here, it’s Hamilton and Bottas replacing the two actors. While Hamilton will be sticking with Mercedes, Bottas will be landing at Alfa Romeo next season. The five-year partnership ends here!

Mercedes further captioned the meme, “Hey, thought you could leave without saying goodbye…”

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The story of the Hamilton-Bottas partnership

Right until the end of 2019, Hamilton and Bottas hardly ever held a conversation with each other off the track. But, then arrived the year 2020, which witnessed a significant turnaround in their relationship; the bond between the two Mercedes drivers evolved.

For instance, when rumors around the potential sacking of Bottas were going around during late 2020, Hamilton was visibly showing his resentment towards them. And, eventually, when Mercedes announced their line-up for 2021, many reckoned that it was Hamilton who had played a crucial role in the contract extension of Bottas.

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And by the time the 2021 F1 season started, Hamilton and Bottas had already turned into good friends; Bottas, during an interview, even acknowledged often traveling along with the 7-time world champion to Grand Prix events on the same plane.

Such was the bond that Bottas and Hamilton managed to build in a span of one year! Now, all eyes will turn towards the newcomer, Russell. The young British driver will straightaway eye the top spot against Hamilton.

Hence, are we in for a rather intense set of seasons ahead with Hamilton and Russell as teammates?

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