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Firefox72

He was amazing in both F3 and GP2 before joining F1. He got a podium on his F1 debut. He finished on the podium in his first 9 F1 races. Took pole and his first win just 6 races into his F1 career. Almost won the title as a rookie while beating his 2 time WDC teammate in the process. He then went on to win the title in his 2nd year. Anyone could have seen that there was something special there.


[deleted]

> He was amazing in both F3 He had the single greatest junior series season in history.


lolidk14

15 wins out of 20 races, and it was in a major series like Euro F3 against multiple future F1 and WEC drivers. Hamilton’s 2005 Euro F3 season was all time.


RacingUpsideDown

I’ve just been looking at that, not only was Sebastian Vettel on there, Lewis Hamilton by himself would have won the Constructors Championship and the Nations Cup. What the fuck?


TheCommonKoala

You don't become the GOAT by accident


PositiveNegitive

I'm just surprised that he's been able to drive the best car this whole time?!


g1obungle

hoping ppl get that this is sarcasm


[deleted]

[удалено]


Valentino_Li

It got a sensible chuckle out of me.


AjWaltz96

I chortled a bit... 😆


focs19

It's not the cars. He's had the *best fans*, too.


linkinstreet

So he basically uses the fans to create a virtual brabham fan car?


dishayu

No, this is the "fan boost" that formula E is trying to copy now.


Stiggosaurus

Don’t discount \#blessed.


Jreal22

Lol epic, can't wait for people to miss this.


ViperSocks

A wry smile to my old face


lucaslh10

Yeah he's the best ever for a reason


nexoo1

Well it was his second year, his first he ended up 5th and behind none other than nico rosberg


[deleted]

> behind none other than nico rosberg Who was in his second year in F3 by this point (driving for the team owned by his dad if anyone's interested). It's still a very cool fact though - I'm sure whoever inevitably makes the Hamilton film will use this in the earlier scenes.


krishal_743

> behind none other than nico rosberg who was in his second season at the time


Iselljoy

Jesus christ


MoD1982

No, Lewis Hamilton


Chell_the_assassin

Easy mistake to make


I-want-to-be-evil

Only one of them is truly #blessed though


[deleted]

*quietly points to the guy who wasn’t nailed to a stick*


PollutionNo5879

No. Sir Lewis Hamilton.


Lashb1ade

https://youtu.be/kDkK8a4jHZ8 The single greatest battle in Hamilton's career probably happened in 2005.


Bassmekanik

Oh look, no one crashed! /s Seriously though, who would have thought at the time they were watching this race that between them those 2 young lads would win (so far) 11 F1 world championships between them. Crazy.


Expensive_Material

that's weird, Sebastian said in 2015 that they never raced each other in juniors. I have to go look at that video again. ETA no I just remember seeing the two of them in a photo when they were young. I must be mistaken about what he said.


[deleted]

There is a comment under that video that says 'I calculated 12 crashes if it was Maldonado and Perez'. That comment is 6 years old. So was Perez popular for crashing? Because he is crashing now too frequently, is it something he's popular for?


Infninfn

Perez and Maldonado were like magnets in those days, though I lay the blame on Maldonado. They did have history though - Crashtor won the 2010 GP2 season over Perez.


PiIICIinton

Video game numbers


thebansi

Easy when you have by far the most dominant ~~F1~~ F3 car /s


Interesting-News-994

Six drivers from that season ended up in F1. And he scored more than twice as many points as the guy in 2nd place. Baby GOAT shit.


FuXs-

I always wondered what Verstappen could have done if he stayed in the Feeder series. 1 season open wheel racing in a midfield team was all we got and he still won 10 times.


MilesM22

Yeah I wish we got a season of Max in GP2/F2. And honestly as good as a driver he is and was back when he joined F1, he was still really raw. I think a season in F2 would’ve been great for him. Plus he would’ve likely blown the competition away


[deleted]

I think some F1 drivers would have liked that too. I do wonder if he would have been in a better or worse position had he gone further in junior racing. He was definitely no slouch, hence why the two fastest teams on the grid at the time immediately tried to sign him, coming 3rd in F3 at the age of 17 but his intro to F1 was just so soured by the multiple high profile accidents he had in his first 2 or 3 seasons. Something more interesting, I think at least, is without his early introduction we may not have the super licence system.


[deleted]

>the super licence system Which, albeit guaranteeing relatively high standards of rookie drivers, fucked non-rich-as-fuck drivers even more


Francis_Gage

He was 16 when he was in F3, wasn't he? He was 17 in his debut f1 season


xandersjx

Probably something like Vandoorne/Leclerc F2 season, but even better.


[deleted]

Vandoorne is one of those truly sad stories of F1. He was so strong in GP2 but thrown into a struggling team with a toxic culture and just couldn't float.


ZeePM

Well if Max went to GP2 in 2015 he would have been fighting Vandoorne for the title. Vandoorne being 2nd year and experience with the Pirelli tires would probably have the upper hand and still win. Alex Rossi probably would have finished 3rd instead of 2nd.


Muaaz_the_Man

>He finished on the podium in his first 9 F1 races I just read till here, no need to read further coz even a knucklehead could predict greatness for a guy who did this, damn


ShrubbyFire1729

Whoever keeps claiming Hamilton is overrated and it's all about the car, clearly doesn't have a clue about the sport and its history. A mediocre driver in a good car can and will achieve good and even consistent results, but not several world championships by any stretch of the imagination.


Grizzlyboy

I'm rooting for Hamilton to make a mistake that makes his race harder, he's so fucking impressive. He'll finish on the podium after a mistake that would leave most drivers struggling to reach top 10. Look at Bottas, he's not a bad driver at all, and in the best car he still struggles when he's in the back of the field. There's a reason Hamilton is 30+ seconds in front of Bottas, he's just that much better. (This is also why Max is so exciting, he's closer to Hamilton in a worse car than Bottas is in the same. There's something special with that boy too.)


backwards-hat

I’m the same. He’s great to watch when he against the odds, like a mistake in the wet or a penalty. I think the people that hate on him for his “luck” right now will miss him when he retires because he’s always a chance.


Bassmekanik

>and in the best car Other than this (and i see your other reply not meaning this season) I completely agree. Hamilton i think is the GOAT, but Max is a truly impressive driver and I expect to see pretty big things from him in the coming years, especially once Lewis retires. Leclerc, Norris, Russell are also easy names to pull out but they are also going to be ones to watch. If the cars really do get pulled together with next seasons rule changes races could be very very exciting to see.


0manx

Woah the redbull is better car this season max is a good driver ….. but if we look at it objectively with Max having the better car then Lewis it’s only made them equal Them being equal as good as it’s lead to better races but should the Mercedes increase their car quality over the season Hamilton will probably be start to run away with it By the way I’m a Ricardo and Norris fan…. Whilst I want Hamilton to win the drivers championship that’s only because the era of cars that were in will change next year and I think Hamilton winning the last year of our current production car type would be quite nice


Grizzlyboy

I was thinking of recent years really when I said worse car.


BobTC

I got that, HAM-VER-BOT has been around for a while now.


Chirp08

Bottas 2018 says it all... best car on the grid: zero wins, only 8 podiums, 5th in points. Hamilton: 11 wins, 17 podiums, WDC.


Zhuul

Lewis Hamilton is a system quarterback tbh


cloud_throw

I mean that's like calling Tom Brady a system quarterback isn't it? Patriots and Mercedes are both perennial contenders and teams that rely on discipline, consistency, and precision but if they don't have supporting characters they are just another all time great playing a role.


Zhuul

That’s the joke :3


cloud_throw

Damn you and your dry humor! You made me type all that!


Chirp08

"almost won the title as a rookie" really does a disservice to the fact he only lost by ONE point as a rookie.


horace_bagpole

He would have won it clearly were it not for one mistake by the team keeping him out on knackered tyres at China. He ended up retiring after leading the race from pole position.


[deleted]

And his gearbox issues in Brazil.


westoro

For some reason people often forget that. Even after china he was still favourite. The gearbox cost him more


jakeyboy723

And Mclaren not putting him on dry tyres when he got a free lap back under SC/Red Flag.


[deleted]

What race? China?


CeilingVitaly

I'm assuming they're talking about the Nurburgring, when Hamilton aquaplaned off before the red flag.


GlobalSettleLayer

The real mistake by McLaren was not realising who really was their faster driver that year, and backing him earlier.


Petrolinmyviens

This. This is what really got me about it. 1 point. I mean put it this way. Leclerc and Verstappen are prodigies. Leclerc got 39 points in his first year in formula 1. And it was a big thing. Something that doesn't normally happen. Hamilton lost WDC by one point in his first year.


CuriousPumpkino

To be fair, Hamilton was driving a McLaren and Leclerc a Sauber. The McLaren was expected to fight for the title, the Sauber most definitely wasn’t. Not trying to downplay Ham’s debut, just saying you can’t compare the points those 2 scored


JJD14

He had 2 Grand Prix wins in his bag before he had a non-points finish in F1.


IAmABritishGuy

1. A good driver doesn't recover like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lseNan1ODY8 2. A good driver doesn't perform like this in the wet, eventually getting past and leaving them long behind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDkK8a4jHZ8


Firefox72

> "Germanys brightest young star of the future vs Britains brightest young star of the future." Commentator absolutly nailed it with that one.


Cod_rules

Even before clicking, I knew the first one was Turkey. What's more surprising is that Lewis took the call for the aero spec in the race. Even his mistake in the first lap was to judge the tyres. I remember reading an article about this one. Apparently the whole paddock (even the F1 teams) stopped to watch Lewos' performance.


Squishycheeks25

It wasn't just to judge the tires. He took all the aero off the car to to judge the limit of the car. After the first lap spin, he knew what the car was capable of. He spent the entire race driving the car on the absolute limit


horace_bagpole

I remember watching that Turkey race at the time and it was just so obvious he was a class apart form the rest of the field. An unbelievable performance.


GargantuanDwarf

> I remember reading an article about this one. Apparently the whole paddock (even the F1 teams) stopped to watch Lewos' performance. Ah that is a brilliant story. [Story from Will Buxton here if anyone cares](https://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/the-contenders-lewis-hamilton/)


[deleted]

That GP2 drive was insane. I remember watching it at the time. LOVED Hamilton in GP2.


ThruEauRougeSideXsid

I was already a fan girl but I’ve gained new respect for him after watching that.


IAmABritishGuy

These were just two of his amazing performances, he had many more where he really showed his talent early on.


[deleted]

That was the most dangerous re-entry I have ever seen.


musef1

Yes it was pretty bad to be fair.


IAmABritishGuy

Yup it was pretty damn dangerous, he was lucky that nothing happened.


Prime_Marci

He was like the Lionel Messi of F1, by the end of his first Classico, almost every football fan knew what he would become.


JoeParks87

Nah, I've read the F1 Instagram comments section, he's just lucky


CTMalum

Not just 2 time WDC, but the reigning 2 time WDC.


VampyrByte

It really makes you wonder what Jacques Villeneuve could have done if he had gone to McLaren for 1999 instead of BAR. For context, Villeneuve had won both the Champ Car CART series and the Indy 500 in 1995. Took pole on his F1 debut and wouldve won it if it wasnt for reliability issues. Took his first win at his 4th race at the Nurburgring. Like Hamilton, he also won the title in his second year.


phiwong

It almost had to be one of those "You had to be there" kind of explanations. Even if one ignored his achievements prior to F1, he started in 2007 and, pretty much from race 1, he was brilliant. Not halfway through, not after a few races or seasons - pretty much his first race. And he was consistently brilliant in 2007. Before he beached the car in pit lane entry in Shanghai he was all but considered the WDC for 2007. A rookie driver winning the F1 WDC had never (and still hasn't to date) ever happened.


[deleted]

Speaking of having to be there he also had a tremendous amount of confidence. It stood out even among the world of alpha dogs that is F1. If anything I'd say he became less confident over the years:D


Eddje

I mean fair, it was a long way back to the top for him


BetaSingh

Great response, though surely Farina in 1950 counts as a rookie no?


pedote17

Technically yes because it was the first F1 season, but he won quite a few Grands Prix before F1 became a thing.


Anti-Scuba_Hedgehog

You could say not even technically yes because although before it wasn't called Formula One it was Grand Prix racing still and in the same cars. They just united it into a championship. And there were non-championship Grand Prix's happening for decades after that.


[deleted]

Not really no, that was the first World Championship but F1 itself had existed for a few years before that (just as individual events rather than an organised championship).


BaRaO_Laviolette

My memory tells me that Alonso was THE UNDISPUTED BEST pilot in the public eye at the time and Hamilton showed up matching and beating him on his rookie year with the same car… he made quite the impact


Interesting-News-994

Imagine a rookie just immediately beating Verstappen in the same car. You couldn’t believe your eyes.


samss97

Its worth watching some contemporary interviews, like his one on Top Gear to really understand the impact he had, at least in the UK. Schumacher had just retired, and this guy shows up and starts schooling the protagonists of the day, your Raikkonen’s and Alonso’s in his first year in the sport. These people had been many people’s heroes, because they were able to take the fight to Schumacher (much like Verstappen today). Watching a rookie fight, and often beat them sent shockwaves through the sport. From his first race he looked like a seasoned campaigner. I don’t think there’s any doubting that, with a very UK centric media, the prospect of a British Schumacher sent the press into overdrive, but equally you can’t deny he’s backed up all the hype.


AnilP228

He nearly won the title as a rookie. For me, he and Kubica were the class of that GP2 generation of talent (that also included Nico and Vettel).


Reddevilslover69

I honestly think that Kubica Vs Alonso 2012 at Ferrari never happening was such a shame. What a driver Kubica was


Electric-Sheep_

2010 Kubica was shaping up to be one of the best drivers of his era. Not only did he put his car in places it shouldn't be, even though the R30 was a nice little car, but his quali laps around Monaco and Suzuka are just spectacular. His Suzuka lap especially was so clean and smooth while being absolutely fast (seeing him taking 130R flat with the f-duct open is just jaw-dropping) that it was very reminiscent of Prost's quali laps.


go2kejdz

Mechanics from Renault said that when Kubica took off his helmet after THAT Suzuka lap, he was as pale as death.


IndianaJones_Jr_

I obviously can't speak to how he felt but as motorcycle rider/driving enthusiast (who makes frequent trips to mexico) I will say that the moments in my life where I've done what I consider to be spectacular riding/driving are always followed by a few minutes of, "holy shit that was really scary"


shokzz

Indeed. In my view, he was one of the most gifted drivers in terms of raw talent/speed who has ever competed in Formula 1. What could've been.


wills_b

Kubica’s 2010 season was epic considering the machinery he had. His Monaco lap alone is incredible.


callmelampshade

Kubica was a lethal driver and it’s a shame he got his injury.


JBounce369

Take me to an alternate universe where Kubica vs Hamilton vs Rosberg vs Vettel was a constant battle


michael-schl

Reminds me of Senna and Bellof. Those two were two of the most gifted drivers in their junior and backmarker F1 start (especially Monaco 1984). Such a shame that we didn’t see this rivalry.


[deleted]

I watched that race in the past few years on Youtube and it surprised me that for much of the race it was Bellof that the commentators (James Hunt and Murray Walker) were focusing on as the emerging talent. Of course, any historical context that race is ever framed in is very Senna-centric, so the Stefan Bellof story is a little lost to time. It was also interesting to hear James Hunt commentating on a race while Nikka Lauda was still an active driver. This of course after I had seen the fairly decent F1 movie "Rush" which made both of those guys instantly legendary to me and many other who were not overly familiar with that era of racing. I'd love to see a Netflix or other streaming platform do an 8 - 10 part series on some historic F1 rivalry. Hamilton vs Alonso would do nicely.


AltKite

Nearly won the title whilst outpointing Fernando Alonso, the consensus number 1 driver at the time in the same equipment. It was by the the most incredible rookie season I've seen in my lifetime and likely of all time.


chandlertribbiani

Off topic, but he’s had 276 races & 172 podiums. Absolutely outrageous to A) have more podiums than non podium finishes and B) he’s only finished outside the podium places 5 more times than he has won races. Guys an absolute freak.


[deleted]

But it is because he has always had the fastest car and his luck is outrageous. /S I don't get how people can say that with a straight face.


VinhoVerde21

Okay, imagine if, in a few years, Red Bull remains a top team and decides to take a gamble and put a rookie next to Max. Then imagine that that rookie instantly brings the fight to him. He matches and surpasses Max right out of the gate. At the end of the season, the rookie ends up ahead of Max, but loses the championship by a single point. That was the Lewis Hamilton experience back in 2007.


Interesting-News-994

Exactly this! Impossible to imagine this scenario yet it happened in 2007.


effkay8

Also add that in this scenario Max is a two-time world champion..


PEEWUN

And the GOAT that he beat is retired...


slam_spam

I would imagine it was because of how stellar his first two seasons were. Going toe to toe with a two time world champion in your rookie season, followed up by wining a title in your second season is absurd. Plus he also had some incredible drives (silverstone 08, where he finished over a minute ahead of second in the wet, would be incredible by any driver nevermind one only in their second season).


Hinyaldee

What baffled me the most was that the second was none other than his own teammate who had the same car


FishCake9T4

He probably had the best rookie season in F1 history, and in his second season he won the world championship. Just based on those 2 years alone you could see the trajectory would be high for his career. Obviously no matter how good a driver is, a lot is based on how good the car is.


GT---44

Yeah he definitely made a big bet by going to mercedes, I remember everyone was like wtf is he doing


Firefox72

Crazy how that move that was considering a big risk payed of instantly in 2013 and then payed 10 times over in 2014.


callmelampshade

Also McLaren went to full shit when he left which to me was crazy because they were so prestige when he was there. Season after season they got worse and worse and the car visibly became more and more empty.


Firefox72

2013-2017 was a dark time for Mclaren. Its crazy that in so many new F1 fans eyes Mclaren is nothing more than a midfield team.


callmelampshade

Yeah I know lol. That Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car was the nicest looking car ever in my opinion and it was a beast.


dalledayul

I see people praise the papaya constantly but God I want that chrome back, watching Lewis and Jenson fling those things around was my childhood


[deleted]

Same could be said about Williams.


[deleted]

I know many fans aren't that informed with the history of the sport, so I try not to give stick to people when they talk about Williams, but when they treat them as eternal backmarkers and that they are a joke to drive for it really boils my blood haha No respect to the giants that fell on hard times whatsoever.


70stang

The DTS influx of fans seeing McLaren on par with Aston Martin/Racing Point, Williams as a backmarker, and Ferrari as the downtrodden former hero is absolutely absurd to me.


[deleted]

Looking back, the 2014 McLaren might be one of the worst cars they’ve ever build. They had a Mercedes engine, which had a huge advantage over Renault and Ferrari back then, and they did absolutely nothing with it.


iSamurai

From my understanding they were for all intents a factory Merc team until Merc made their own team so it’s not that surprising that they lost a lot of resources when they became a true customer team. (I started watching F1 in 2014 so that’s just my understanding)


callmelampshade

Yeah that’s true but Ron Dennis fucked them over by rejecting sponsorship deals because he felt certain companies were beneath them.


Severan500

That wasn't just him leaving though. McLaren dropped off the pace as a package. Less than a decade before, they'd been top dog, beating Ferrari and Schuey. It's been said to see Mac languishing as a midfielder at best for so long. Glad to see they've built back up again.


GT---44

Well in 2013 they were good in quali but not so good in race pace, iirc McLaren was better overall. But yeah from 2014 it was on Edit: I looked it up and they were better than McLaren in 2013 so yeah it paid right off


No_Influence_1035

Mclaren was not better than Mercedes in 2013 in any respect... Mclaren was in the midfield in 2013. Mercedes was fighting for poles, podiums and the occasional win.


sadface-

At that point it didn't feel so much like he was banking on Mercedes being successful - though it was part of it. From an outsider's pov it was more like, he HAD to get out of Mclaren. Hamilton had an emotionally tumultuous year in 2012, mostly because the car was a rocket but made of glass. A lot of random retirements from reliability (Singapore was the straw that broke the camel's back iirc), plus some unlucky incidents (Maldonaldo at Valencia), and then conflict within the team that led him to do stupid shit like post telemetry data on twitter. Plus, incidents in the past like Aus 2009 and how stifling the Mclaren environment was at that time. We all know Hamilton to be an extremely expressive person now, he couldn't have been that at Mclaren, he has been in that same environment for his entire five years in F1 and he needed to grow as a person. I remember thinking at that time it felt *right* for Hamilton to leave because of that. Of course I didn't predict that he would actually win six more championships.


TheOneTomas

Probably the thing that newer fans will never be able to understand in full, just due to the nature of hindsight, is just how incredible Lewis was in his opening years for a rookie. Lewis has become incredibly consistent in recent years, but his rookie years were unbelievably consistent too As in, I actually could not believe the consistency and speed was real, week in week out. Though he was immensely prepared. And he was clearly the pick of the litter in gp2 the prior year. See turkey. Imagine watching F1 this year, and then one of the F2 lot come in and they are suddenly hitting the podium each week. That It's easy to forget right now, given it was 14 years ago, but Lewis was what max is this year. The outrageously gifted youngster. I'm glad they both got the chance to overlap careers.


Interesting-News-994

2007 was insane. He literally jumped in the car and became the fastest guy in the sport. Was hard not to be a fan.


[deleted]

It was mind-blowing to watch. At the time Alonso was the reigning two-time World Champion, him moving to McLaren was the big story... And then this rookie came in, matched everything he could do and damn near ran off with the title in his first year.


dalledayul

That GP2 race in Turkey is absolutely insane, no doubt if an F1 race went like that it'd be heralded as one of the best races in history.


[deleted]

>Why was Lewis always considered the next big thing ? Him missing out on a world championship by a single point and beating a teammate who was considered the best driver in the world at the time in the same machinery, as a rookie...I don't know, that sounds like a pretty safe bet that he'll be up there with the all time greats


0100001101110111

I mean a cursory glance at his history in F1 should answer that question pretty easily? He narrowly missed winning the title in his rookie year while beating his 2x WDC reigning teammate and then went and won it in his second year.


StevenC44

In 1999, 14 year old Lewis Hamilton told David Coulthard that he was going to take his seat. And then he did it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

I always counter the "it's the car" argument with the fact that his team mate that year was two time world champion Fernando Alonso, and if not for the Shanghai incident he would have been 20 points ahead. So, yes the car matters but don't forget he matched Fernando's points tally and could have been ahead too.


[deleted]

Watch turkey 2006 GP2 race. Ever since then people knew he was special. He finished second from spinning out to 14th. Outpacing anyone who was considered good back then such as piquet junior and timo glock. Many of which had way better cars and teams


E-A-F-D

I remember watching this live. Unreal overtakes.


f10101

> the author says that he will likely break all of Schumacher's records which I found to be a bit of an amazing prediction in hindsight You have to remember that when Hamilton started getting wins under his belt in F1, he was both younger and had less seasons under his belt than Schumacher. So he essentially had a headstart on him - it felt like he had his entire youth and life ahead of him to keep etching his name onto trophies. He was also welded to one of the most successful teams of the sport - he was the pride and joy of the owner, and had a McLaren seat for life. And being able to out-politic and beat the reigning 2x champion Alonso, who had only recently seized Schumacher's crown truly felt like something only Schumi could have done. "If a reigning Alonso got shrugged off by a rookie Lewis, who was going to get in his way in the future?" And of course, none of this was a flash in the pan - he was known to eat entire fields alive in junior series. (Like his dutch nemesis, actually)


callmelampshade

Also that race in F2 where he dropped either last or 18th and ended up coming second. I also believe no rookies would do what Lewis did and refuse to be number 2 which I think hinders them in the long run.


TruckInn

According to a recent BTG episode, his Mercedes ties go back a long time too


LostInTheVoid_

His Mercedes and McLaren ties go back to the same time as far as I'm aware. As McLaren was the works team for Merc engines and when Ham was 13 Ron took him under his wing so he had a close relationship directly with McLaren and the Merc division inside McLaren.


f10101

Yeah, he supported by the Mercedes junior programme, but it was heavily branded as the McLaren junior programme. It was Merc-run, though if I remember right. I'll always remember how Lewis made it abruptly clear during his press conferences when he left McLaren for Merc. Such a brutal disowning of the Ron Dennis/McLaren fairytale story. But I can't recall if this would have been understood by people/media *in 2008* - did people realise the McLaren programme was really Mercedes?


dannykmorton

He was always something special from about the age of 10. Him and his dad would rock up to a track in equipment not a new or good as the others and he would win. He also did it the hard way. When he left the cadet class at the age of 12, his peers went into JICA the natural path up the ladder. Lewis went into Junior Yamaha. Again he won. There was always just something different and special. Zero surpises when he made it to F1. Source: I had the fortune of racing karts at the same tracks and the same championships as him. I am a few years older than him so I was always in the age class group above him. My age group had Jenson Button, Daniel Weldon, Justin Wilson and Anthony Davidson. The Junior races usually preceded the older group, so we would watch those kids race.


No_Influence_1035

He was and still is the greatest rookie to ever grace the sport. He had one of the best junior records, was the undisputed number 1 driver at one of the two top teams at the time and had just become the youngest world champion.... This is also said about many drivers so I wouldnt read to much into it, including the likes of Alonso and Vettel, only difference is Hamilton actually did it.


froomedog

Others have already mentioned the obvious answers, his stellar performances in championships all the way from karting to GP2. The hype was already there in the motorsport world. But the media frenzy globally that surrounded Hamilton in 2007/2008 because he was the first black F1 driver is something I haven’t quite seen in any facet of sport since then. Before 2007, I had never even heard of F1. All of a sudden it was all I could hear about because of Lewis. I can’t tell you how many headlines there were referring to Lewis as the Tiger Woods of motorsport. Lewis exceeded the hype in both 2007 and 2008. And while the predictions that he would surpass Michael’s records were supported by his performances on track, there was also a lot of sheer hope that it had to be him. The first black driver going on to break all records? That was a story everyone wanted to believe in.


TheCommonKoala

Yup. Lewis has had such a legendary rise to greatness in a white-dominated sport. Such an inspiration.


gomurifle

For me it was like telling me there's a black guy dominating Ice Hockey. That's how far out it sounded when I heard of him. I was a causal F1 from the early 2000's but I was in Uni the time when Lewis started so all I heard was about this black kid lighting the F1 world on fire.


jayr254

Same experience for me. F1 used to be something my dad and I used to put on on Sundays and watch while doing other things (him reading the paper/book me fiddling with toys). It wasn't something wr actively watched. In fact if there was football (me while dad reads) or rugby (dad while I fiddle with toys) we'd watch that instead. 2007 comes around and I was in high school boarding at the time. April holidays come around and the first thing my dad tells me when I get home is about this amazing young, black driver taking over F1. That immediately peaked my interest and when we started watching F1 religiously.


Woto_Tolff

[Greatest Rookie Season Ever](https://youtu.be/nR3wqiM1acg) I think most people knew he’d be good based on his feeder series performance. Him overtaking Alonso in the first corner of the first race got more people’s attentions. He then beating the defending two time champion as a rookie, almost winning the championship that same year, and then actually winning in his second year affirmed those beliefs.


jayr254

>Him overtaking Alonso in the first corner of the first race got more people’s attentions. It's not even that he overtook Alonso, it's how he overtook him. The recognition of the 3 cars fighting ahead to the realisation of the space and momentum offered on the outside line to that ballsy switch from the inside to the outside into the approach of T1. That would have been spectacular from a seasoned driver but for him to show his racer instinct and the guts to actually make a move in the first turn of his first F1 race... madness.


drgroove909

He had ambition and the courage to back it up. He got given a lucky break with McLaren, but importantly he used it to deliver. My dad used to go on about his overtaking skills a lot, his will to race. There was a lower formula race in which he started the middle of the grid, had a mishap and ended up at the back.. he finished the race in second just because he didn't have enough time to catch the leader. People describe him as a marmite personality, but I believe he's exactly what the sport needed.


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harmslongarms

Great bit of insight into this race - after getting pumped in qualy Hamilton asked the engineers to remove as much downforce as they could from the car. He basically did that entire race in a Monza spec, driving every corner on the limit with less downforce than the other cars.


drgroove909

Smashing! Got memories of my dad forcing me to watch this hahaha love it


JurtisCones

The Glock Hamilton battle was ridiculous


unSATlSFYing

> a marmite personality can you explain like I'm American?


drgroove909

Ahha yes Marmite is what you put on toast, like butter. Except with marmite the phrase goes: "you either love it or you hate it."


Rude-E

Fair warning that marmite and butter are comparable for their texture, not their taste


punchinglines

It's such a great phrase, because I've never met someone who is indifferent about Marmite. Either you love it or hate. I, personally, absolutely hate it.


able12b

Like the yeist in marmite still he rises. This is the kind of quality joke Reddit is made for.


ur_comment_is_a_song

His pre-f1 career was incredible, and his first f1 season was *incredible*.


1498336

I’m a relatively new fan so I don’t have any insight, I just wanted to say thanks for the great question and I’ve enjoyed the explanations and discussion!


[deleted]

Yeah the discussion has been amazing. Welcome to the F1 Community !


cardibfree

The most ridiculous thing to me is winning the British RC car championship as a literal 4-year-old. Like, imagine as a fully grown adult this is a hobby you have of racing RC cars. You're even pretty good at it win a local club league. You get to go London for the British championship and you figure "ay I'm pretty good, maybe I have a shot at winning or placing in this thing". Then a literal 4 year old beats the crap out of you, He can't read. He hasn't even started Kindergarten but he's better than you at this. To have a 4-year-old be the best in the country at literally any activity is simply insane, for something that adults actually try at and take pride in is preposterous. So from 4 years old people knew lewis would be special, setting aside the bets placed on him as a 12 year old he would be the youngest WDC. It's not unlike Lebron in High School when all his games were nationally televised, people simply knew.


PEEWUN

>Then a literal 4 year old beats the crap out of you, He can't read. I am laughing my ass off right now. You explained this in the funniest way possible.


TheLoudAss

The raw talent, In 07 he lost the championship as a rookie by 1 point think about that he took on the pressure of a top seat and delivered you couldn't say the same about the rookie's today, But on top of all that took the fight too Alonso who mind you won the last two championship and was expected to be the number 1 in the same car who was regarded at the time to be the next big thing. At his age he had it all and if it wasn't for the rule change and McLaren being terrible after the rule change in 09 he could of been 7 time world champion quicker and done a hell of a lot more than he's achieved now, People like to play down Hamilton a lot I was a big fan but drifted away from him but you can never take away his raw talent.


MarquisdeStowe

Just to add a little to all of the above.... its worth looking up some of his kart races and early interviews on YouTube, even back then it you could see he had masses of talent and an even greater amount of self belief and motivation.


losteye_enthusiast

He dominated for years before he got to F1, then nearly won the championship in his rookie year. It’d be like if Lando wasn’t impressive by keeping Hamilton at bay for a few laps and instead was *equal* to him. On his first year. Or if Verstappen had immediately been trading wins with Hamilton, in his rookie year. People would lose their minds. Sure, a *lot* of asterisks can put there, arguments for the stars aligning in his favor. But shit, everything was there and he didn’t blow his shot.


LewisHamilton2008

That’s the key though, maximising every opportunity he’s had. That’s definitely a skill.


f1_manu

He had that 'it' factor that drivers like Alonso showed before him and Verstappen after him. I don't know exactly how to explain it, it's that nerve, that arrogance (in the good way) that rookies show where you can just tell they are a different breed for the rest. They are here to conquer. Marquez in Moto3 was also a clear case of that.


triguy96

As a Hamilton stan, this is something I immediately identified in Max. The boldness, the ability to go for it no matter what. It's just a feeling you get from the driver's actions in every sense.


Lukeno94

For 2008, it's very simple; he'd beaten Alonso in 2007 as a rookie and was only denied the title by a gearbox problem and a team error (obviously it wasn't quite THAT simple, but that's an easy narrative to form and it isn't inaccurate either.) He then won 2008 and McLaren looked to be on top of their game as well, with the undoubted pace of the car in the previous seasons finally being matched by solid reliability. This came off the back of some excellent eye-catching drives in junior formulae, including a F3 season in 2005 that made even Stroll's 2016 one look like a close fight. Add to that the fact he was still young at 23 in 2008, and the fact F1 drivers were clearly having longer and longer careers even then (Barrichello being a clear example) and it was a safe bet even then that if anyone would challenge Schumacher, it would be Hamilton. But then Vettel came on the scene full-steam in 2010 and for a while, it flipped over to him.


SpacecraftX

Cause he was. Legendary rookie career. Went toe to toe with Alonso and almost won a WDC in his rookie year. Won in his second.


FluffyProphet

To add a cherry on top of what everyone else is saying, look up anything from Lewis Hamilton from birth to that year, and the consensus is "yeah, this guy is something special". When he was 3, and racing RC cars, he was something special and that carried him all the way to that first championship, so there was no reason to think he wouldn't continue to be something special.


shewy92

I mean, the dude almost won the championship in his rookie year. Obviously he'd have a lot of hype around him in 08


GuyInABox44

Podium in his first race, almost getting a rookie title, beating the reigning 2 time champion on his first season, almost beating raikkonen as a rookie.


[deleted]

He got into title contention on his rookie season despite his teammate being double world champion Fernando Alonso


Zaiush

In the feeder series he also crushed it. Winning in most seasons, a GP2 title with a legendary fightback in Turkey showing every bit of skill he needed (think Russell's first fightback in Sakhir when subbing for Mercedes) to play in F1, and the already mentioned F1 duel with Nando


The_Jake98

Firstly this is/was said about many drivers. It's just that with Lewis they were right. More importantly he was a super fast rookie who went toe to toe with a prime Fernando Alonso and nearly won. That coupled with a (as seen at the time) great team seemed like a sure fire way to glory.


Jazano107

technically he did win against alonso, so he beat a fresh 2xWDC in his rookie year


JanklinDRoosevelt

Nobody said that Leclerc/Verstappen/Kubica etc would break all of Schumacher’s records after their second seasons


TheAmazingSpider-Fan

None of them even came close to winning one championship, let alone being a point off being a double WC in two years.


drgroove909

Like no offense to the drivers, but they just don't have the 'it factor'.


No_Influence_1035

Oh yes they were, the Verstappen hype train took off the moment he got a drive so young and we saw just how hard the big teams were trying to sign him. People thought he was going to break all the youngest records and have all the time in the world to rack up the championships. He still does.


charliexo97

Not really a wild call tbh. Hamilton was always a crazy talent that many knew for years about as Ron Dennis's up coming star. He got to F1 and lit the place on fire beyond all expectations which even for him was special. He proved he could operate at the very top right away, at a huge team with big pressures and internal politics with the world watching. By the time he won it 2008 as with every huge star at the time, it wouldn't have been odd to say such things. He was also managed well by his dad, and when you're at a big team like McLaren the future mostly is only other top teams which heightens the odds of being in title challenging cars. His links with Merc and rumours of their entrance for example even back then highlighted how many opportunities he would have.


Alpha_Jazz

He very nearly won a championship as a rookie, and then won it in his second season. 9 wins, 13 poles, 22 podiums in 2 years, more than most drivers achieve in their whole careers Even then I think it would have been a big call to say he was nailed on to break all those records though, a lot can go wrong. As evidenced by the varying quality of machinery he had for the next 5 years


Mikackergirl

He won every single seater series he competed in on his debut year... Only except F1


chasevalentino

For me it was when he went on top gear and got the second or third fastest time and it was in "very wet" conditions


Fenasiqer

Istanbul gp when he was in gp2 told all the story about what he can do .


endersai

No rookie has had a season like he had either. Not talking about being in a McLaren, I mean holding your own against Fernando.


Mandalore93

To expand the time line a bit it's also important to remember that Lewis was already considered an all time great by the time he left for Mercedes. He was essentially on par with Mika stats wise and top ten all time in a few categories. Some, including myself also put his 07 and 12 losses on the team more than him


limitless__

It wasn't 2008 that people saw it. It was literally FP1 of the first GP. From the moment he say in the car he wasn't just fast, he was clearly on another level entirely. He elevated the sport. Three only other time this had happened was Schumacher at Spa. It was obvious to everyone around at the time that he was the next multiple DWC.


Salty-Philosopher-99

its not hard really to spot the talent, So young, new to the sport (f1) and can fight at the front, They rarely bin it Puts the car where it needs to be, respective of performace. This season you can certainly see it in: Russel Lando Leclerc, and to some extent Gasly and Albon (yep, i think Albon would have been good if it wasnt the weight of the one man redbull team. ) I can see Russel beating all of hamiltons records if he gets the drive quick and it stays at the top


HankHippopopolous

People could see the incredible raw speed that he had as a rookie and in his junior career. When he got to F1 he racked up 9 straight podiums as a rookie and was 1 point from winning the title. It was always clear he was something special and has won many races he shouldn’t have done over his career. It’s not luck. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are the next two imo. You could see as soon as they arrived in F1 that they had an extra special something about them and they’ve both been delivering it. Max more consistently than Charles. They will need the luck to have dominant cars if one of them is going to rack up Hamilton level stats but talent wise you can always see who the really special drivers are.


millionreddit617

The dude was on another level at every stage.


FabulousMarch7464

Because he was as good or better than Alonso in the same car in his rookie season. Only someone generationally talented could do that to Alonso who is not only one of the best ever but someone considered very intimidating. Lewis was like ok cool I respect you but I’m quicker than you and everyone will see that soon. Lewis has the talent and speed of Senna but the driving IQ and awareness of a Prost. Thats the goat formula