2007
AUSTRALIAN GP
Debutsfor
McLaren and
finishes third
2007
CANADIAN GP
Claims first F1 win
after six outings as
Alonso’steam-mate
40 GP RACING MARCH 2020
de Cesaris on his debut at Spa aged 22; Hamilton
by passing his McLaren team-mate Fernando
Alonso around the outside of the first corner in
his first race in Melbourne, aged 21.
Both won a championshipearly: Hamilton
after two full seasons; Schumacher after three.
And both then suffered afallow period before
hitting their stride with one dominant team.
But there the similarities end. Schumacher
won two titles before his career stalled; Hamilton
just one. Schumacher moving teams precipitated
his title-free period; Hamilton made his switch
after suffering itfor too long.
Schumacher was intimately involved in
building up the team with which heultimately
dominated; Hamilton parachuted in just a
year before hisstar ted, and when the building
blocks were already laid, but has certainly been
influential in maintaining Mercedes’ thirst for
continued success.
They are both great talents, with massive
natural speed, but quite different drivers in
quite different situations.
Schumacher almost from the start, had the
number-one status in his teams bestowed
upon him. Hamilton has almost never had it.
He had to establish his dominance, and the few
times theteam s tepped in to his advantage,
it was nearly always when the position had
already beenearned.
And thebiggest difference of all: Honour.
Throughout his career, in moments of extreme
pressure, Schumacher hit below the belt. Yet
Hamilton has built a reputation as a tough but
scrupulously fair racer, who would never resort
to underhand tactics.
Above all, though, they areunited by their
ability, their completeness, the immediacy with
which they announced themselves as something
special, and their impact on F1 as a sport.
In Schumacher’s case, within a race, he
had beenprised from the grasp of Jordan and
deposited at Benetton, with help from F1’s
impresario Bernie Ecclestone. Hamilton’s talent
convinced McLaren, who had nurtured him from
an early age, that it was the right thing to do to
put him in alongside Alonso, who arrived there
having beaten Schumacher and Ferrari.
But even McLaren did not expect Hamilton
to make the impact hedid. Team principal Ron
Dennis thought Alonso would emerge as the
natural team leader while Hamilton was finding
his way. But the forceof Hamilton’s natural
ability immediately destabilised the team and
led to the most seismic season in its history,
in which all parties behaved in ways they would,
in hindsight probably regret.
After passing Alonso in the first race ofthe
season, Hamilton outqualified him for the
first time in thethir d, was leading the
championship by the fourth, and took his
maiden win in the sixth, a performance of such
dominance in Canada that itseeme d to affe ct
Alonso, who made a series of errors in that race
and finished a chastened seventh.
By then, it was obvious Formula 1 was
witnessing the birth of a special talent, and the
Italian media had taken to calling Hamilton
‘Il Fenomeno’ – thephen omenon.
Hamilton and Alonso were engaged in an
epic scrap, and by any measure it was almost
impossible to separatethem. Hamilton
outqualified Alonso more often than not,
but Alonsowas marginally faster on average
qualifying lap time and ahead more often than
not when both cars finished the race.
They took four winseach, and ended the
year with the same number of points, Hamilton
classified ahead onlyon results count back
- he had more second places.
It was undoubtedly the best season by a rookie
in F1 history and, despite the closeness of the
battle, it should have ended with Hamilton as
world champion. But errors by team anddriver
in China, where the title was his for the taking,
opened the door for Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.
After rows through the summer, and the
spy-gate hearing, for which McLaren was
fined $100m and thrown out ofthe constructors’
championship for possessing Ferrari technical
information, McLaren’s relationship with
Alonso was intatters and itwas obvious
he would be leaving at the end of the year.
In Shanghai, McLaren allowed the unnecessary
ambition of ensuring Hamilton finished ahead
of Alonso to distract it. PICTURE
:ZAK MAUGER
2007
ROOKIE SEASON
Nine consecutive
podium finishes, a
record 109 points and
equals the most wins
by a rookie (four)
2008
BRAZILIAN GP
Winschampionship
by a single point
with fifth place
gainedat thelast
cornerof the last lap
2013
Surprises manyby leaving McLaren
and replacing Michael Schumacher
at Mercedes
2007
AUSTRALIAN GP
Debutsfor
McLaren and
finishes third
2007
CANADIAN GP
Claims first F1 win
after six outings as
Alonso’steam-mate
40 GP RACING MARCH 2020
de Cesaris on his debut at Spa aged 22; Hamilton
by passing his McLaren team-mate Fernando
Alonso around the outside of the first corner in
his first race in Melbourne, aged 21.
Both won a championshipearly: Hamilton
after two full seasons; Schumacher after three.
And both then suffered afallow period before
hitting their stride with one dominant team.
But there the similarities end. Schumacher
won two titles before his career stalled; Hamilton
just one. Schumacher moving teams precipitated
his title-free period; Hamilton made his switch
after suffering itfor too long.
Schumacher was intimately involved in
building up the team with which heultimately
dominated; Hamilton parachuted in just a
year before hisstar ted, and when the building
blocks were already laid, but has certainly been
influential in maintaining Mercedes’ thirst for
continued success.
They are both great talents, with massive
natural speed, but quite different drivers in
quite different situations.
Schumacher almost from the start, had the
number-one status in his teams bestowed
upon him. Hamilton has almost never had it.
He had to establish his dominance, and the few
times theteam s tepped in to his advantage,
it was nearly always when the position had
already beenearned.
And thebiggest difference of all: Honour.
Throughout his career, in moments of extreme
pressure, Schumacher hit below the belt. Yet
Hamilton has built a reputation as a tough but
scrupulously fair racer, who would never resort
to underhand tactics.
Above all, though, they areunited by their
ability, their completeness, the immediacy with
which they announced themselves as something
special, and their impact on F1 as a sport.
In Schumacher’s case, within a race, he
had beenprised from the grasp of Jordan and
deposited at Benetton, with help from F1’s
impresario Bernie Ecclestone. Hamilton’s talent
convinced McLaren, who had nurtured him from
an early age, that it was the right thing to do to
put him in alongside Alonso, who arrived there
having beaten Schumacher and Ferrari.
But even McLaren did not expect Hamilton
to make the impact hedid. Team principal Ron
Dennis thought Alonso would emerge as the
natural team leader while Hamilton was finding
his way. But the forceof Hamilton’s natural
ability immediately destabilised the team and
led to the most seismic season in its history,
in which all parties behaved in ways they would,
in hindsight probably regret.
After passing Alonso in the first race ofthe
season, Hamilton outqualified him for the
first time in thethir d, was leading the
championship by the fourth, and took his
maiden win in the sixth, a performance of such
dominance in Canada that itseeme d to affe ct
Alonso, who made a series of errors in that race
and finished a chastened seventh.
By then, it was obvious Formula 1 was
witnessing the birth of a special talent, and the
Italian media had taken to calling Hamilton
‘Il Fenomeno’ – thephen omenon.
Hamilton and Alonso were engaged in an
epic scrap, and by any measure it was almost
impossible to separatethem. Hamilton
outqualified Alonso more often than not,
but Alonsowas marginally faster on average
qualifying lap time and ahead more often than
not when both cars finished the race.
They took four winseach, and ended the
year with the same number of points, Hamilton
classified ahead onlyon results count back
- he had more second places.
It was undoubtedly the best season by a rookie
in F1 history and, despite the closeness of the
battle, it should have ended with Hamilton as
world champion. But errors by team anddriver
in China, where the title was his for the taking,
opened the door for Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.
After rows through the summer, and the
spy-gate hearing, for which McLaren was
fined $100m and thrown out ofthe constructors’
championship for possessing Ferrari technical
information, McLaren’s relationship with
Alonso was intatters and itwas obvious
he would be leaving at the end of the year.
In Shanghai, McLaren allowed the unnecessary
ambition of ensuring Hamilton finished ahead
of Alonso to distract it. PICTURE
:ZAK MAUGER
2007
ROOKIE SEASON
Nine consecutive
podium finishes, a
record 109 points and
equals the most wins
by a rookie (four)
2008
BRAZILIAN GP
Winschampionship
by a single point
with fifth place
gainedat thelast
cornerof the last lap
2013
Surprises manyby leaving McLaren
and replacing Michael Schumacher
at Mercedes
