Encyclopedia

DRIVERS: LEWIS HAMILTON

Name: Lewis Hamilton
Nationality: Great Britain
Date of birth: January 7, 1985 - Stevenage, England

Lewis Hamilton, Australian GP 2007 

 © The Cahier Archive

Lewis Hamilton's grandfather emigrated to Britain from Grenada in the 1950s. His son Anthony followed his father into the railway business but he eventually started his own IT business. When Lewis was five his father bought him a radio-controlled car and he was so successful with the car that he ended up on the national TV show Blue Peter, racing his car - at the age of just six. When he was seven his father gave him his first kart and in 1995 he won the British National Cadet Karting Championship. It was not long after that he introduced himself to McLaren boss Ron Dennis at an awards dinner and the first contact with McLaren was made. Dennis kept an eye on Hamilton and in 1997 signed a deal to help him develop his career. He enjoyed a highly successful career in karting winning a series of titles before signing to drive for Manor Motorsport in the Formula Renault winter series at the end of 2001. He stayed with Manor in 2002 and finished third in the championship with one victory and then dominated the series - still with Manor - in 2003. In 2004 he went with Manor to the Formula 3 Euroseries but won only one race although he finished fifth in the title. That year he tested for the McLaren F1 team for the first time. In 2005 he switched to the ASM team, which had won the title and he dominated the F3 Euroseries, winning 15 of the 20 races and moved up to the ART Grand Prix team in GP2. He was soon beating his more experienced team mate Alexandre Premat and in an impressive display of driving won the GP2 title at his first attempt. He was duly signed to race for McLaren in 2007 and was soon testing for the team.

His first F1 season started with Hamilton making a quick impression by finishing third in his first GP, in Australia. This was followed by eight consecutive podium finishes, including wins in Canada and the US, and a serious chance of getting the Championship itself, a feat unheard off by any previous rookie.

Sadly, in China, he ended up in the gravel pit when coming in for tyres and missed his chance. But, if at first you don't succeed...