Hamilton at McLaren in 2007

[monkeyboy1976]

Your thoughts please on how you think Lewis will do next year.
It will certainly put Jenson out of the spotlight in the UK and may be of benefit to him.
Looking at the pictures of Lewis and his new car on the McLaren website, he certainly looks like a rabbit in headlights.
Main question is: is he ready?

[DaveKillens]

lewis Hamilton has shown that he has the ability and potential for a great future in Formula One. But the question is whether to throw him in the deep end of the pool with the sharks, or give him some time to adjust and develop some more before entering combat.
If lewis is sent out immediately to race, it may backfire and permanently damage his future. But if he is carefully taken along, and developed like any rookie in any sport, his career may last many years, at the very top.
Considering that Kubica spent most of last season just testing before competition, it's logical that it is a sound stategy to allow a driver time to develop. On the complete opposite, look at what happened to SA, they started the season with a completely fresh driver, and he imploded.
If Hamilton was the only egg in McLaren's basket, he might have been rushed. But Ron Dennis has Alonso as the number driver, expected to have the success.

[Venom]

The fact that Lewis can cope with pressure will help him more then anything else. The guy is very calm and doesn't go over his head. I think he'll be alright after winter testing and preparations.

[ketanpaul]

It is the right time for Lewis but Pedro deserved this seat much much more than Lewis. Its time that Pedro should go and say on Ron Dennis's face "how many more years do you want me to test for you?"
The guy has been loyal long enough to deserve a seat and Ron hasn't done a nice thing to him. I wont be surprised if Pedro look for a drive elsewhere by 2008

[monkeyboy1976]

The way I see it is that Hamilton is in the ideal situation there at McLaren in his rookie year. At least he won't be spending a year at the back of grid after being farmed out by McLaren to a lesser team. You have to take your chances when they are offered to you.
You only have to look at Kubica and Rosberg to see that those two are now kind of trapped for the next few years.

Also, there is an equal although different pressure on the world champion to perform so eyes will be on him also. This is the best situation for any rookie. Hamilton has nothing to lose really next year.

As for Pedro, I am sorry for him, but I am sure he will find a drive elsewhere. If he was a gifted driver capable of race wins, he would have done so by now.

All in all, the main pressure is on McLaren I think:-
a) to give Alonso a race winning and reliable car
b) to show that they were right with the choice of Hamilton

[sebbe]

The only thing I have to say to Ron is "you should have made Lewis race in Brazil to see his race performance". McLaren had nothing to loose in case he crashed or didn't score any points.

There are a lot of factors we don’t know or we don’t fully understand that make a team says “this guy won’t race; he’s a good tester but not a good race driver”. Alex Würtz was OK, and neither he was a McLaren official driver.
So in this case ketanpaul I have to say I don’t agree with you.
I see Pedro is committed and he’s pretty good, but he lacks of something… I don’t know what it is but I wouldn’t choose him as a driver either.

As for Pedro, if I were Ron I would said to him "Well Pedro, you have too many years testing for us to become a race driver".

McLaren's only pressure is to give Alonso a reliable car.
It wouldn't be the first time a team make a bad decition by deciding to "use" a rookie.

[ketanpaul]

I think Pedro needs sometime to get into the racing mode, and the only way he would had shined would have been a whole season. His Hungary drive was pretty good despite the rain. I am positive he would had been really quick

[sebbe]

I know Pedro is good -actually better than JPM, RIP-, but maybe Ron thought that he's closer to the end of his career... Sad and cruel, but he's not known for being a kind man, not any of the rest of teams director either!

By the way, I forgot to say that part of the pressure McLaren feels comes from the third of the company Mercedes own, whom, by the way, was pretty bad at building a decent engine.

[Scuderia_Russ]

What will it do to Hamilton if Alonso destroys him? Great to have another Englishman on the grid though. Although I think it's too early for Ha,ilton I don't think the team had much choice. Who else were they going to put in the car... De La Rosa? Gimme a break.

[Hondanisti]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/55773

When I first found out was on Saturday 30th September, just before the Chinese Grand Prix. I was invited to Ron's house and I sat down with Ron and Martin Whitmarsh. It was an incredible moment in my life. We sat there and he said: "We have decided you are going to be our driver next year." I had to put a professional front on and I had a small smile on me, but inside it was overwhelming.

In the Hamilton interview, he revealed that Dennis & Whitmarsh offered the race seat to him in late September.

That tidbit was an eye opener for me.

One has to recalibrate one's comments about whether he should have driven the Brazilian race.


It does show respect to Pedro that they didn't pull the rug from underneath him at Brazil where he finished 8th to Kimi's 5th.


From my perspective, McLaren has lost something since 1999 and whatever has made them lose their eye on the ball has also resulted in them not "closing the loop " on winning the WDC in the Kimi era (2 near misses in 2003 & 2005 interspersed amongst 3 mediocre years). It may be Ron Dennis' or Mercedes management style, which for Ron, is perceived by some to be overbearing and rigid with a knack for accepting too extreme a solution to an ongoing problem. An ingredient (mojo?) is missing from 1999.


Perhaps that missing ingredient is a humanizing element in the form of Mika Hakkinen - F1's Emotional Champion and his return to the team in whatever capacity may inject that intangible influence to moderate the extremism and rigidity/conformity that was prevalent as a management style in the Kimi era ?

[wazojugs]

i am glad that hamilton had got the drive over pedro!

pedro has had many chances to shine at mclaren and failed to impress.

the only worry with hamilton is learning the new circuits that gp2 doesn't run at. rosberg did have some problems.

[Principessa]

Well, I'm curious to see what Hamilton will do in F1 as of course he never driven a Grand Prix and he hasn't been testing a lot. I hope that he's ready for it and I'm sure that he'll learn a lot from Alonso. I think that is a big plus for him. Of course, Alonso will be number 1 at McLaren and I wouldn't like to see that Lewis is treated like Montoya.

Anyway,
Good luck Lewis

[EKE]

LH is a winner.
He has the mentality of a racer and seeing him race last year has taught me sometimes you can believe the hype.

I'm really glad Ron has given him a chance and shows the faith he has in his protege. McLaren have supported him for 11 years. He's been hot-housed and given everything he's needed so that he can concentrate on becoming a better racer, but now that he's in the inner sanctum of the F1 team as a race driver of he'll be given even more support and, of course, time to learn. I'm sure Ron won't panic if LH fluffs it a few times in his first season.

Maybe RH and McLaren will emulate Alex Furgeson and Manchester United.
Man Utd set up a training academy and gave their youth team all the support they needed to get better at football. Then as these players progressed they got a chance in the first team. AF threw loads of kids in at the deep-end and they swam well and are still swimming. Ryan Giggs, Gary and Phillip Neville, Paul Scholes and of course, David Beckham.

Basically, get them young, train them in your way of working, give them all the support they need and, when they're ready, give them a chance.
I think LH will have overtaken JB in race wins by the end of the 2008 season.

[RH1300S]

It's great he has the drive. Is it too early? I voted No If he has half the talent he seems to have it will show through. Maybe he won't be up with FA in the 1st season (maybe he will........we don't know yet); but he will be doing a helluva job if he gets close. I think RD will keep the pressure off him; he will learn fast and will show a great talent.

[BreezyRacer]

By choosing Hamilton the team has a clear number 1 driver. There might have been some threat to that otherwise, as it's clear DeLaRosa can get whatever there is in the car out of it. His race strategy needed some work, that's all, and that might have ben controlled by the team anyways.