Hamilton would welcome McLaren test role

GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he would rather test for a year at McLaren in 2007 than get loaned out to race for another team

McLaren boss Ron Dennis is currently pondering whether to give Hamilton his Formula One debut next year, and will make a decision after the youngster has conducted some testing later this year.

Dennis' options for Hamilton are to give him a McLaren race seat, loan him out to another team or give him a test driver role.

Speaking after clinching the GP2 championship, Hamilton made it clear that he would not object to testing next season if he was then promoted to a race seat in 2008.

Speaking about his preference for testing or racing for a rival team, he said: "I don't think it will make much difference. I've been with McLaren for seven or eight years now. That's where I want to be and I'm happy to work as a tester for a year and then race the next year.

"It would be a good opportunity to learn the car and get used to the team and learn the circuits. But I know them all now, apart from Malaysia and Japan. If I was put in a race seat then it would be more of a challenge being up against Alonso."

Looking back on his GP2 campaign, Hamilton claimed the highlight of it was his recovery drive in Turkey.

"It wasn't a victory, it was a second place in Turkey," he said. "At certain races you have high emotional feelings and I put a lot of pressure on myself to be successful. I didn't want to let the team and McLaren down.

"All I had to do was get 20 points and I spun and went back to 20th. A lot of people think the world is coming to an end in that situation, but I stayed positive. I pushed and got up to second. That was one of my greatest races."