Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. The Briton made his debut with McLaren in 2007 and won the Championship in his second season. However, his move to Mercedes in 2013 kickstarted his journey toward becoming one of the sport’s all-time greats.
Hamilton won six more World Championships with Mercedes, and at 38, he is still going strong. Hamilton lost out on his eighth World Title in 2021 in heartbreaking fashion but has vowed to break the record by winning at least another Title before he retires.
However, history could have been very different for Hamilton had another team signed him before McLaren in 2007. In fact, his father, Anthony Hamilton, was in talks with some other teams.
One of the teams who were interested in the young star was none other than Honda. The Japanese team offered him a three-year deal with an annual salary of $1 million.
How history would have been different if Lewis Hamilton had joined Honda
One could say that Hamilton narrowly escaped a disaster by not joining Honda instead of McLaren. The former built a very slow car that could barely fight for the points places, whereas McLaren was at the top in F1. By signing for the Woking-based squad, Hamilton fought for race wins and podiums from the very get-go in his career.
However, Hamilton’s journey to stardom could have taken a different route had Honda managed to land his signature. In 2007 and 2008, they had a poor mechanical package which limited their charge up the field. However, the next year, Honda became Brawn GP, and the rest is history.
Jenson Button driving his 2009 title-winning Brawn GP car at Silverstone 😍 pic.twitter.com/vBB1F1YabE
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 11, 2019
Ross Brawn guided Brawn GP to the Constructors’ Championship, with Jenson Button winning the Drivers’ Championship in their first year. Just one season later, it was renamed to Mercedes, a team everyone in F1 is familiar with. What’s interesting is that Hamilton could have ended up at Mercedes despite joining Honda back in 2007.
His journey to greatness would have taken a different route, but Hamilton’s talent would ensure he ended up where he was meant to be.
Also read: 7x Champion Lewis Hamilton Offers A Young Black Mechanic The ‘Dream Chance’ In His Team
