Lewis Hamilton: An Unauthorized Story

From the days when his father would take him to watch Formula One greats Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, Lewis Hamilton dreamed of joining the ranks of his racing heroes. This he eventually did; becoming the youngest driver to ever pilot a F1 car, in 2007. Hamilton grew up in Hartfordshire, in the United Kingdom, where at the age of 7 he started racing radio-controlled cars for fun. He soon moved onto the more challenging Go-Karts; then Formula 3 cars, in which he won the British Championship. Hamilton was never shy of his talent. He approached McLaren boss Ron Dennis at the age of ten and told him he was one day going to drive a McLaren. Ron replied, "Wait nine years and I'll see what I can do". In 1998 Dennis kept his word, signing Hamilton to the McLaren Driver Development Program, making Hamilton the youngest driver to ever enter a contract. He was also the first black driver to compete in Formula One; and win a major race. During 2004, Hamilton and McLaren had an argument which resulted, temporarily at least, in Hamilton being dropped by the famous racing team. However he was resigned and has stated that he wants to remain with McLaren for the rest of his career. One year later, Auto sport Magazine voted him 24th in their Top 50 drivers of 2005 issue. When asked why he was drawn to racing as a sport, he says it's the danger, the adrenaline of racing that keeps him interested. Even Michael Schumacher has praised the young driver, saying: "He's clearly got the right racing mentality". After winning the British Renault F3 and GP2 Championship, Hamilton finally became an F1 driver in 2007, due to a vacancy left in the team by Juan Pablo Montoya, who left to pursue a career in NASCAR. Hamilton's dream had finally come true. A future star, Hamilton's past rivals, present team mates and F1 greats all agree that his is definitely "the career to watch".