A glimpse at Lewis Hamilton’s career with McLaren – Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton started his Formula 1 career with McLaren in 2007 and has been known as one of the most talented drivers in the field.
In 2007, he drove alongside the two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso who joined the Woking based team after leaving Renault.
The British driver made a wonderful debut and secured third podium finish in his first race which was held at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia.
He performed incredibly well throughout the year and came second in the drivers’ championship with 109 points. Moreover, he was just one point behind Kimi Raikkonen who won the world drivers’ championship in 2007.
In 2008, he came back terrifically well and delivered some amazing performance. He had a tough battle with Felipe Massa until the very end of the season. Nevertheless, he successfully claimed the drivers’ title by only one point from the Brazilian driver.
The Briton struggled in quite a few races in 2009 and could only score 49 points. He came 5th in the drivers’ standings and remained ahead of his major rival, Raikkonen by just one point.
In 2010, he performed convincingly well and managed to secure 4th place finish in the drivers’ championship. Besides, he stood ahead of his teammate, Jenson Button and behind Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing.
The 27-year-old struggled a lot in 2011 because he failed to keep a balance between his personal and private life. Nonetheless, he still secured 5th place finish in the championship and scored 227 points. Additionally, he remained ahead of Massa
and behind his old teammate, Alonso who drove for Ferrari.
In 2012, he stood amongst one of the most consistent points scorers during the start of the season. Moreover, he was also considered as a potential title contender, but unfortunately he suffered with some reliability issues which hindered his performance
in many races due to which he lost some crucial points in the championship and his hopes to win the title faded.
However, he came 4th in the standings with 190 points. In addition, he remained ahead of Button and behind Raikkonen.
It will be important to mention that he had left McLaren and has joined Mercedes as Michael Schumacher’s replacement for the next season.
The 2008 world champion has expressed his deep affiliation with McLaren and said that he has spent a great time with them. He also said that he shares some of the most memorable moments with the British squad which he will always cherish in the future.
“My time at McLaren has been fantastic,” Hamilton told staff at the McLaren Technology Centre.
“When I arrived in Formula 1 in 2007, I now realise I never really grasped what I was taking on. Ron had told me: 'Don't be surprised if you're 0.5sec slower than Fernando', and I just smiled because I knew it wouldn't be the case. But, even so, that year
was very hard, for many reasons,” he said.
Furthermore, he expressed his immense gratitude towards McLaren for all their love and support in his career so far.
“The following year, 2008, as a result of so much hard work from all of you, we won the Championship. Thanks so much. You were brilliant - you still are,” he added.
Hamilton’s career with McLaren has been tremendous. Let’s see how he performs with the Brackley based team in the next season.
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