Hamilton proved he was a "problem" after two runs of debut F1 test
Lewis Hamilton took just two runs of his debut McLaren Formula 1 test to show his rivals he was going to be a "massive problem", Pedro de la Rosa revealed
The British driver was handed his first run in an official test by McLaren in September 2006, just days after his title-winning GP2 Series campaign had finished.
At the time, McLaren driver de la Rosa had hoped to continue in a race seat for '07 - and was running at the test alongside Hamilton.
Reflecting now on the events, de la Rosa said that his views on Hamilton changed totally on the second run that the now six-time champion did.
"That's when my mind changed," said de la Rosa, speaking to F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.
"We had two cars, we were testing there, [and] it was his first ever Formula 1 experience.
"He did a run, and he was nowhere. I remember looking at his data with Philip Prew, my race engineer back then.
"We were looking and Philip told me: 'The boy will need to improve a lot over the years...it's a long road for Lewis, but he will be good, but we just have to give him time, blah, blah'.
"And I thought 'yeah, yeah, yeah'.
"I did a run, came back, looked at the times: and I saw Lewis was fastest on the second run!
"And I looked at the data and I said: 'What happened?' [They said:] 'Well, we gave him new tyres'.
"So I looked in the data, and he was so fast through Copse, Becketts, Maggots... that then I just realised the potential of Lewis Hamilton.
"Just looking at the data for a couple of seconds I realised we had a massive problem."
De la Rosa said it soon became clear that Hamilton would be chosen to line up alongside Fernando Alonso in '07, but he says he felt no bitterness about what happened.
"It was his first ever F1 test, his second run in Silverstone, and I realised this guy is very, very fast.
"I've seen a lot of drivers in my life.
"I've been with very good drivers, I would say, and I feel very honoured of that.
"But when I saw Lewis, I thought 'wow, this is very special'.
"And then, when the season was over, I knew that Lewis would be in the race car and I knew that Fernando was signed.
"And I was happy with that, because I said to myself, if I was in, Ron's [Dennis] shoes, or Martin Whitmarsh's shoes, I would take the same decision, because Lewis is incredibly fast and Fernando as we all know, is mega."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
Hamilton needs talk with Wolff to prepare Ferrari F1 move
Hamilton: MotoGP and F1 shared events would be “epic”
The status factor that made Ferrari impossible for Hamilton to turn down
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments