F1 Best Videos: Lewis Hamilton Video Interview

Ayrton Senna karting video
Russian looking to f1?

Lewis Hamilton came into F1 as a long-standing protegé of Ron Dennis and the whole McLaren concern.

Never has a novice entered the sport with better connections or preparation. Hamilton was meticulously groomed in every facet of the game, from fitness to rule and regulation examinations. Lewis also spent a lot more time in McLaren's simulator than Alonso did.

"Lewis could have won the championship last season, but the team let him down,"

Ecclestone said in an interview with the Spanish sports daily Marca.

On top of that, the rookie had nothing to lose, which meant that Lewis drove the pants off the MP4-22 right from the word go, matching Alonso almost to a tenth in most pre-season tests.

He did manage to write off a chassis in a high-speed crash at Valencia, as well.

But he followed that up with a scintillating performance in Oz, passing his more illustrious team mate into Turn 1, before keeping him at bay up to the last round of pit stops.

What was significant, though, was the bold precision of Hamilton's driving into Turn 1 of his opening three GPs, overtaking Alonso in Oz and Raikkonen in Malaysia.

Beginner's luck it was not, for the Hammer kept toughing it out with more experienced pilots, gaining an edge in challenging opening skirmishes in Oz, Malaysia, Bahrain, Canada, the USA, the Nurburgring, Hungary, Turkey, Monza, Japan and China.

His passes on Trulli in Monaco, as well as Massa and Raikkonen at Monza - and his passing in general at the Nurburgring - also carried the hallmark of genius. Chasing hard and charging like the devil comes naturally to Lewis.

But so does a superb ability to defend - and with vigour, if necessary; witness Indy and Fuji (against Alonso) and the Hungaroring (against Raikkonen).

The last hurdle in establishing himself as a super talent, even in his maiden season, came in the rain - firstly at the Ring (where a chaotic race disguised a really good drive), then at Fuji (where Lewis scored an extraordinary win in crazy conditions) and finally in China (where Hamilton left the field for dead, and his tyre stop too late).

With dire consequences, yes. At the final hurdle, inexperience had done him in, especially when Lewis unnecessarily tried to dice it out with Alonso in Brazil.

His real downfall, however, came in more subtle shapes, like bad set-up at Silverstone and Spa, and tyre woes in Turkey, China and Brazil, mostly because Lewis drives with more oversteer than any other top F1 driver.

Following his near miss last season, when he came close to becoming Formula One's first rookie champion, Hamilton thinks he has everything he needs to get the job done in 2008.

"In terms of my (overall) package, there's no excuses," he said in an interview with The Associated Press news agency.

"Last year the only excuse was that I was a rookie and that it was all new. But this year, I'll continue to learn, so sure, there will always be mistakes but I don't feel there is any room for error."

Yet, the youngster came to within two points of clinching the most coveted crown in racing.

In his rookie year.

Yes, the car was extremely good.

But so was his team mate.

Asked how he'd think his former team mate would get on in 2008 Lewis responded 'It doesn't matter how he'll get on, he'll still be a two faced cock to me and Britain. Without him in the team McLaren will be a better place. Briatore (Alonso's new team manager and former as well) can ass lick once more with that queer back there.'

Then referring to his time alongside Fernando Alonso last year he said: "I think I established myself as equal last year. He was (the leader) at the beginning, wasn't he, but it changed.

"Well, he thought he was at the beginning. But I don't think that should be the case, we should be a team. It should be equal.

"He (Alonso) showed me just how not to behave as an F1 driver."