Lewis Hamilton
Summary [edit] Hamilton made his debut in Formula 1 for McLaren March 18, 2007 in the Australian Grand Prix in 2007, in which he finished an impressive third place. Hamilton is the first driver of Caribbean origin who competed in Formula 1 and is also the first Formula 1 driver ever, who gave up on the podium after his first nine Formula 1 racing. He took second place in the Formula 1 World Championship in 2007 and later received the first rookie receiver Hawthorn Memorial Trophy for his efforts. Hamilton became world champion in Formula 1 season 2008 and 2009 was appointed MBE by the British Imperieorden. Hamilton has a contract with McLaren until the season 2012th
Racing Career [edit] start [edit] Already in 1994, introduced herself Hamilton Formula 1 team McLaren team chief Ron Dennis and asked if he could run for the team in the future. 1998 he wrote a contract with McLaren's driver development program, which also involved an option for a driver in the stable. This was, Hamilton, who was then only thirteen years old, the youngest driver ever had a formula one contract. Hamilton won the GP2 championship in 2006 and conveniently became a driving position vacant for the F1 season in 2007 and 24 November 2006 it was announced that he would be able to drive for McLaren in 2007 and which become team-mate with the reigning world champion Fernando Alonso.
2007 season [edit] Hamilton started testing for McLaren in November 2006 and was on some occasions more quickly than the stable's test driver Pedro de la Rosa and the rest of the field. At its debut in the Australian Grand Prix 2007 Qualifying Hamilton as four and ended third in the race. Hamilton raced here with childhood friends, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. At the next race in Malaysia, he finished in second place and set fastest lap. At the third race in Bahrain started in Hamilton from second on the grid and finished second in the race. This made Hamilton the first Formula 1 driver who finished on the podium in his first three Formula 1 races. Hamilton split after three years also first place in the driver's championship with his team-mate and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and became the youngest Formula 1's history to lead the world championship.
In Spain, he came second and went up to the exclusive management of the World Championship table and also the first Formula 1 driver who finished on the podium in his first four Formula 1 races. In Monaco, he came second behind his team-mate Fernando Alonso, who thus joined up in shared leadership in the championship. Hamilton was here the first Formula 1 driver who finished on the podium in his first five Formula 1 races. He took his first pole position and his first F1 win in Canada 2007th He was therefore in sole lead in the driver's championship. Hamilton repeated the feat in the U.S. in 2007 and extended the lead in the driver's championship. In France, he stood in the first pole position but finished third, which was his eighth podium place in line, and continued leadership in the World Championship table. In Britain, he had pole position, finished third in the race, which was his ninth podium place in a row and still in World Cup lead.
In qualifying for European Grand Prix Hamilton had problems with the right front wheel and crashed at high speed at an angle into a tire barrier. The qualification, which reached the third division, was stopped and Hamilton was taken to hospital for examination. Lewis damage was not serious and he could start the race from tenth on the grid.
Hamilton came back in Hungary, where he took pole position and then won after a very safe driving. But after the talking began to focus on qualifying, when Hamilton's team mate, Fernando Alonso, Hamilton prevented from going out and do another flying lap. Hamilton had set the fastest time but came into the pits to change tires. Alonso was already at their shared custody spot to himself to change a tire and when Alonso was finished, the mechanics waved him away. But he stayed on the ground to waste time. When Hamilton then could change tires and go off to set a new time, qualifying time was already over. Alonso set the fastest time, but Alonso and Mclaren had a penalty after the race five points and McLaren, as a manufacturer, got no points from the race. In the race in Turkey after he was lying in third place when a puncture on the right front tire deprived of his podium place. In Italy, he came in second place after a tough overtaking of Raikkonen with only ten yards remained. However, he was beaten by Alonso, as he was also in Belgium, where he was fourth. He topped the World Cup table with three races left to run. In the rain race in Japan, he took pole position, set fastest lap and won easily. As Alonso crashed and broke the race was extended Hamilton's lead in the championship to 12 points.
In China, could Hamilton secured the World Cup title but he was forced to abandon the race when he drove by on the way into the pits to change his completely worn-out tires. The results in general meant that both Alonso and Raikkonen was now involved in the battle on the driver's title. Prior to Brazil only took a second place to secure the title. He tormented into precisely that position, but was overtaken by Raikkonen at the start. Alonso also took over and in his eagerness to take back his seat, he slowed down the runway. He moved up to sixth place but was a suspect växellådeproblem and lost all momentum. He fell down to the eighteenth place but managed to get up to the final seventh place. It was enough for second place in the World Cup after Raikkonen, who won the driver's championship by one point. Hamilton took second place after coming second more times than Alonso in the season. BMW and Williams was driving with low fuel temperature during the race and had a total of three cars in Hamilton. The teams were acquitted, but the McLaren appeal. FIA rejected McLaren's appeal on November 16, with Raikkonen was allowed to keep World Cup title.
2008 season [edit] 2008 season went on Hamilton to race for McLaren. He began the season with a convincing victory in Australia in 2008, where only seven cars made it into the goal. In the following race in Malaysia in 2008, he came fifth, after being relegated to startgridden for impeding Nick Heidfeld during qualifying. In Bahrain in 2008, he finished in thirteenth place, after he missed the start and later collided with Fernando Alonso. It was followed by a more successful event in Spain, where he moved past Robert Kubica at the start, and then lay in fourth place during the first part of the race, before he moved past Alonso in the context of his first pit stop. It ended up in third place behind Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. The Turkish Grand Prix qualified Hamilton finished third, but drove past the house mate Heikki Kovalainen at the start, and then followed Massa for the first stint until he got a smaller amount of fuel during the second part of the contest, and thanks to less weight on the car, he pressure on and passed by Massa, but Hamilton had three pit stops to Massa two, he managed not to beat Massa. He managed to squeeze past Raikkonen, stuck behind Kubica in the race start.
Hamilton then won in Monaco in 2008 after starting from the third box. He ran into the guardrail on the sixth lap and got a flat tire on the right rear tire. This proved successful because it was raining heavily and he thus came in early in the pits for tire replacement and additional refueling. Hamilton became the first Englishman to win at Monaco since 1969. Two unsuccessful races followed. In the first, in Canada, Hamilton took pole position and led convincingly in the first stint before the safety car came out. He then went into the pits together with Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton got the fuel for more yards on the track during the second stint, but then sat and watched the display on the steering wheel and did not see the red light where Raikkonen and Kubica were waiting, and then he crashed straight into Räikkönen's rear wing. In addition, he was punished with ten investments, relegation to the French Grand Prix, a punishment McLaren accepted. The race in France was not particularly successful for Hamilton, who genade over a chicane in an attempt to drive past Sebastian Vettel in the midfield on the first lap. A drive-through was sentenced to Hamilton, who then did not manage to save some points, while Massa won by Raikkonen, as Hamilton got down to fourth place in the table. He then won in the UK in 2008, which was his first victory on home track. The race was considered by many to be one of the best runs on the wet runway ever in Formula 1. Hamilton was challenged initially by Raikkonen but the Ferrari was a tactical failure when it came to tire choice for Finland, which opened the way to an easy victory for Hamilton's part.
In Germany in 2008 dominated the Hamilton momentum terms, by taking pole position with fastest time in each sector on the track. He then took the start, and took care of the command directly, when he opened up a big gap to Massa. After two thirds of the race came the safety car out on the track, but Hamilton did not go into the pits, which he acknowledged without hesitation was a wrong decision. He was forced to go into the pits at a later time, and he does not build up a gap that needed to stay in the lead, and came out of the pits in fourth. Kovalainen let him go past him, before Mass, stopped by brake problems, was forced to surrender. Nelson Piquet Jr was the last hurdle, but he had no chance against Hamilton, who was capable of running more than one and a quarter of a second per lap faster each lap.
The final of Brazil became the season's most consistent race, which was not decided until the last curve. There was Massa pole position, while Hamilton, who led the World Cup before Massa by seven points, started from fourth place. It was enough for fifth place for Hamilton to win the driver's world championships if Massa won the race. On the last lap Hamilton was fifth when Sebastian Vettel ran for Hamilton and poked him down to sixth place and therefore a second place in World Championship table. When Massa crossed the finish Hamilton was still in sixth place and the location where stood the Mass would become world champion. Approximately 300 meters before the finish line came up with Vettel and Hamilton, Timo Glock, who, unlike those two have not switched to rain tires when it started raining a few yards before the finish, and drove him. With the overtaking Hamilton finished fifth in the race and thus took home the world title as the youngest of all time.
