The thing about Formula 1 legends or the ones who ‘make it’ in the sport is that they don’t drop out of the blue. Rather, there is a promise, an early spark of greatness right from the moment they first get a taste of a Formula 1 car. Such was also the case with Lewis Hamilton.

The current Mercedes driver is today, counted amongst the greatest of all time. But if one looks back at the very start of his career, they’d see it coming.

It was September 19, 2006, and Lewis Hamilton, a karting sensation, was about to test for McLaren at Silverstone, his first outing in an F1 car. And as you’d expect now, he made a name for himself.

Hamilton, who was in the books of McLaren since he was 13, got the chance to drive the MP4-21, just 10 days after winning the F2 title. After familiarizing himself with the car on his first of three days, he registered his name sixth highest on the list, nine-hundredths of a second behind the then McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa.

But on the third and final day, Lewis Hamilton dethroned La Rosa as he was the third fastest on the day, six-hundredths of a second ahead of the senior McLaren driver.

And at only 21, Lewis Hamilton was a rising star.

“I want this!” – Lewis Hamilton after his first Formula 1 test

Looking back on the first F1 test of his life at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton had described it as the “best week” of his life (until he added more best weeks, week-in week-out). “I enjoyed it so much. I felt the pressure, because it was my first test,” he said.

“I worked my way through it. The thing that really struck me, after GP2, was the downforce in the high-speed corners. I was like, ‘Wow, this is Formula 1! I want this!'”

He said he wanted it, so he went for it, and he got it.

Sir Lewis Hamilton was signed by McLaren in 2007. And despite coming incredibly close to winning the championship in his rookie season at only 22, he ended up winning it in 2008, at 23.

What followed next is well-documented, but at the expense of using less words to say more – Lewis Hamilton became arguably the greatest driver in F1.

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