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There was a buzz around the McLaren Technology Centre on Wednesday morning. The reason? The triumphant return of Lewis Hamilton to the men and women that helped him become Formula One's youngest world champion in such dramatic circumstances at the weekend.
Around 1500 bodies assembled on the ground floor of the the MTC, and you could sense the buzz about the place. Lewis would not be there for half an hour, but with a world champion among their own for the first time in nine years - you could forgive the stay-at-home heroes for being a little giddy.
The atmosphere began to build along with the size of the crowd, as the minutes ticked by to Hamilton's arrival. This, as team boss Ron Dennis later pointed out, was one of the few occasions during the year that the 1000 or so employees of McLaren were allowed to leave their desks, lathes and workstations for a couple of hours. An opportunity to bask in the glory that their most famous colleague had recently bestowed upon them.
