As a little boy, Lewis Carl Hamilton met McLaren chief Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony and told him that one day he wants to race for McLaren and thus he is a perfect example of a person who is living his dream. In his debut season he accomplished many feats and even finished second behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen missing out by just one point. In just his third race he was in the spotlight as he came out saying that he was prevented from racing his team mate Fernando Alonso, though he was cleared by the FIA this was the start of many more controversies to come which is jeopardizing his promising F1 career.
In 2007, Hamilton won his first ever race in Montreal and then again in the US Grand Prix. The season also saw him become the first and the last driver being given mechanical assistance to put his car back on track. His issues with Alonso continued in the Hungarian GP though he remained the beneficiary this time around. In the Japanese GP he was investigated by the stewards after the race for an incident behind the safety car as 2 cars behind the McLaren crashed out. His very first season with McLaren saw issues within the team as he was reported to have sworn at Ron Dennis after he thought the team was favouring two time champion Alonso over him and the FIA had to intervene eventually.
The 2008 season saw him getting into lesser disputes and he subsequently went on to win the Championship. In the Belgian GP that year he was accused of having an unfair advantage over Kimi Raikkonen as he used a tarmac run off area to avoid hitting the Finn and McLaren’s appeal failed to withstand as Felippe Massa inherited the win. The start of the 2009 season saw him being called a ‘liar’ as he was responsible for Jarno Trulli being relegated to 13th position from 3rd when he provided the FIA with false statements which also saw his team sports director Dave Ryan being suspended for supplying wrong information at the stewards’ meeting. It was a disappointing season for him and team mate Heikki Kovalainen left McLaren that year with Hamilton accused of being given undue favoritism.
2010 was considerably better for him though he was once given clarification by stewards about how a driver is allowed to weave only once even if they are only trying to break a tow followed by a reprimand for his overtaking manoeuvres. He also got both his ears pierced when it was not allowed by FIA guidelines followed by another safety car rule violation. The 2011 season also saw him violating weaving rules, getting drive-through penalties and also being accused by Ferrari’s Felippe Massa of being ‘incapable of using his brain’ as he caused an accident by touching the Ferrari. With his aggressive and rash style of driving, Lewis Hamilton has made himself quite the undesired one amongst his fellow racers and a usual in the stewards’ meetings.
Tags: F1, Ferrari, FIA, Formula 1, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Motor Sports, Motorsports, Ron Dennis