Seven times World Champion Lewis Hamilton discusses his potential move to McLaren after winning the Nurburgring in 2006
Lewis Hamilton had a great introduction to the F1 world. In his first season, he finished second in the driver’s championship a mere one point behind Kimi Raikkonen.
Back in the 2006 GP2 series season, Hamilton competed against Nelson Piquet Jr and Timo Glock who would also join the Briton on their dream Formula One career.
As they say, the rest is history. Lewis Hamilton has currently won seven world championships in his F1 journey. However, let us look back at an interview where he predicted joining a lower-ranked team instead of McLaren in 2006.
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Lewis Hamilton drove a race to remember at the Nurburgring. He took his first GP2 Series win after overcoming a drive-thru penalty as well.
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Martin Whitmarsh working for McLaren back then described the Briton’s driving as truly astounding. The current Aston Martin Technologies CEO was awestruck by Hamilton’s performance.
The rumors placed the then-rookie Hamilton as McLaren’s new number 2 driver. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya left McLaren for his NASCAR journey and Kimi Raikkonen joined Ferrari.
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Speaking with the media after the race, Hamilton described the race win as a ‘fantastic achievement’. He acknowledged the team’s effort as he won both the Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
The boy from Stevenage was speculated to be ahead of Pedro De La Rosa and Gary Paffett for the seat at McLaren. Despite the strong showing, Hamilton still predicted that he would not go straight into McLaren. Explaining this, he said: “I don’t expect to jump straight into McLaren. I would’ve thought that I will be going in a lower team.”
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When questioned about his association with McLaren and his plan regarding F1, Hamilton smartly replied: “At the moment, my plan is to focus on racing GP2. McLaren has given me fantastic support throughout the years, hope it continues.”
The interviewer did mention Hamilton’s friend Nico Rosberg at the end of the interview. “The last man to win the GP2 doubleheader was Nico Rosberg. We all know the kind of progress he is making currently,” the interviewer concluded.
