Except for occasionally seeing a few yellow faces, the 56-year history of the F1 Grand Prix has almost been dominated by white drivers. But starting from the 2007 season, F1 will have the first black driver in history. On the 24th, McLaren announced the signing of 21-year-old British teenager Lewis. Hamilton and Alonso will form the team's main lineup next season.

McLaren Youth

In fact, Hamilton's appearance in F1 for McLaren was already expected. Just five days after becoming the new GP2 champion on September 8 this year, Hamilton got the opportunity to test for McLaren. Since then, rumors have been swirling that he will become the first black driver in F1 history. . In the end, McLaren did not loan him to a small team for a year as some rumors said, but directly promoted him to the position of F1's main driver. Hamilton revealed that this was confirmed on September 30. That day, Dennis invited Hamilton to his home. Also present was McLaren CEO Whitmarsh. Dennis said to him personally, "We have decided to use you as the main driver next year." Hamilton said that he just smiled at the time, But he was already elated, and he finally realized his F1 dream.

In fact, Hamilton has been a driver trained by McLaren for 9 years. At an awards ceremony in 1997, Hamilton, who was only 12 years old at the time, unexpectedly pulled team leader Dennis to introduce himself, "Hello, I am Lewis, I want an autograph. I want to play for you in the future." Dennis gave him He gave his mobile phone number and said with a smile: "Come to me when you win the world championship in karting." Just a year later, Dennis heard Hamilton say to him, "I won the karting championship." Dennis stayed true to his word and signed Hamilton. Since then, McLaren has always regarded the British as a training target, and he has lived up to expectations, winning championships in all events he has participated in, including British Formula Renault and F3, as well as this year's GP2 championship.

There is no doubt that after Schumacher retires, Hamilton will become a new hot spot in F1. Many people will pay close attention to the performance of F1's first black driver next year, and partnering with two-time world champion Alonso will only increase this attention. Hamilton said he just wanted to use the opportunity to see how big the gap was between himself and Alonso. "The first year will be difficult, especially with Alonso. But I'm still young and I'm here with a learning attitude and I'll try to do my best on and off the track. There's a guy who won it twice. A world champion, very experienced and talented teammate who is a few years older than me is very good. He will give the team a lot of help, and I want to learn from him.”

The team also said that they will not give it. This newcomer has too much performance pressure. Dennis hopes that Hamilton's goal is not to beat Alonso, but to constantly improve himself. "He doesn't have to focus on results, but how he performs. As long as he can continue to improve in the first few races, he will have a chance to achieve good results." . ”

The Hamilton family immigrated to the UK from Trinidad very early, and the whole family made a lot of efforts to support him in racing. Hamilton's father Anthony said: "Sometimes I have to work three jobs at the same time to have the money for him to race. Now it is so happy to see him get the McLaren driver's seat." Hamilton is also very grateful to his stepmother Linda and brother Nicholas, "My family had to find various jobs to earn money for me. Without their support, I would not be where I am today."

Hamilton is considered by the British to be a "car "Woods in the world." Sponsors are also very optimistic about his Woods effect, but Hamilton said he doesn't feel any special pressure and is not worried that fans will care more about his skin color than his results. "I didn't consider that." "I came to McLaren to do something that I have wanted to do for many years. I will focus on work, no matter what others say," Dennis also said, "I have always said to Hamilton. The day you want to take advantage of your skin color, I will cause trouble for you. He must rely on his true ability to stand out."

Entering F1 is only the first step. As for whether Hamilton, who is also from the Mercedes-Benz youth team, can achieve it. Whether someone as brilliant as Schumacher can be as dominant as Woods, the British will have to rely on their own hands to speak in the future.