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Hamilton’s Ferrari debut: Revisiting his first seasons with McLaren and Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton had one of the most outstanding careers in Formula 1. Let us look at his debut years in McLaren and Mercedes before his Ferrari debut.

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Venkatakrishnan
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Lewis Hamilton's debut seasons for McLaren and Mercedes key highlights

Lewis Hamilton's debut years Photograph: (X)

Everyone is very excited about Lewis Hamilton's first season with Ferrari. The 7-time world champion has been the biggest rival for the Italian team all these years. He is the one who spoiled their party, triumphing again and again by defeating their drivers. In 2025 he will compete against McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull as a Ferrari driver. The Tifosi are already thrilled to see Hamilton in red, as thousands gathered outside the Maranello testing track to watch him drive a Ferrari. But, what happened during the first year when Hamilton raced for McLaren and Mercedes in 2007 and 2013? Let's revisit those years.

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Revisiting his first years with McLaren and Mercedes

McLaren - 2007

Lewis Hamilton debut for McLaren in the year 2007

In his rookie year, Lewis Hamilton was nothing but spectacular. He outpaced his teammate and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso and battled against Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen for the world title. He won four races in Canada, the United States, Hungary and Japan. After Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton had the best rookie season ever in Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were teammates at McLaren in 2007 F1 season

Out of 17 races he finished on the podium 9 times and outperformed Fernando Alonso. This led to tension inside the McLaren camp and the two drivers had a constant feud. Alonso felt the McLaren team preferred Lewis Hamilton more than him and moved back to his championship-winning team Renault after the season.

Lewis Hamilton crashed in Chinese GP 2007that cost his F1 title
Lewis Hamilton crash in Chinese GP 2007 (Photograph: X)

Nobody expected Lewis Hamilton to be that good and he fought hard for winning the world title in his rookie year. A small mistake in the Chinese Grand Prix during Pit stop has cost him and he lost the title to Raikkonen by just one point. But the 2007 season was a strong basement for a wonderful career and Hamilton won the F1 title in 2008.

Mercedes - 2013

Lewis Hamilton won his first race for Mercedes at the 2013Hungary Grand Prix

Niki Lauda brought Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes replacing the 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher. The Brit partnered with his old friend and rival Nico Rosberg in the 2013 F1 season. Though he didn’t win a championship in his debut, Hamilton gave Mercedes their first win since returning to Formula One at the Hungarian Grand Prix. At that time Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull were the fastest cars on the grid, but even then Lewis went to podiums on multiple occasions and finished inside the top five rankings at the end of the year ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton debuted for Mercedes in the year 2013

This also started an intense rivalry between him and the German driver. He also met with Peter Bonnington his race engineer and both had the most successful driver and engineer relationship in F1. Hamilton laid the foundation for Mercedes in the 2013 season helping them dominate most of the turbo hybrid era from 2014 to 2021. On both occasions, Hamilton won the title one year after his debut for a new team. What will happen this year? Let's wait and see.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton could have won a Grammy award as X.N.D.If not racing in F1

Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes Ferrari F1
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