After an intense Monaco GP battle with his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso, young Lewis Hamilton won for the first time in Formula 1 in Canada in 2007 exactly 15 years ago
There are few records that Lewis Hamilton has not broken in Formula One. The Briton is the greatest winner in the history of the sport, with seven titles, and holds numerous other records, among them the greatest number of victories in the category, with 103 in total. In all his seasons in the main category of motorsport, Hamilton has never failed to climb on top of the podium, and it did not take long for him to win his first victory in his rookie year at McLaren.
The 2007 season represented a year of changes and the end of an era: it would be the first year without the seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who was replaced by the Finn Kimi Raikkönen at Ferrari. Besides the German, Jacques Villeneuve also announced his retirement, and so Fernando Alonso, then two-time champion, would be the only Formula 1 winner that year.
But Alonso also had his own narrative. After five years with Renault, then two-time winner of the Constructors' World Championship, the Prince of Asturias decided to leave for McLaren. The British team opted to change its driver team, and brought the young Lewis Hamilton, then GP2 champion, to complement the Spaniard's experience.
Fernando's choice proved to be the right one. Renault could not repeat the performance of the previous two years, and the fight in 2007 was between Ferrari and McLaren. Raikkönen won the opening race in Australia, Alonso responded in Malaysia, and Felipe Massa won two more races for the Italian team in Bahrain and Spain.
In the fifth round, in Monaco, McLaren had the upper hand. Alonso won his second of the season, but the rivalry with Lewis that would mark the season began there. Hamilton sped up after the first stop made by the Spaniard, who was the race leader at the time, but he was called to the pits by the team, in order to avoid an exchange of positions on the track. The team would also ask him not to attack his teammate in the final laps. This was the fifth consecutive podium for the young Briton, and his first Formula One victory seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Arriving in Canada for the sixth round of 2007, the expectation was of a new fight between Ferrari and McLaren. The first blow was from the British team, which led the first two free practices with Fernando. In the third and last practice, Lewis finished first, ahead of Kimi Raikkönen.
The slight advantage over the Italians appeared again in qualifying. Kimi was fastest in Q1, but then Hamilton took over and put on a show. With a time of 1min15s707, Lewis got the first pole-position of his career in a dominant way, almost half a second ahead of Alonso. Nick Heidfeld surprised both Ferraris and put his BMW Sauber ahead of Raikkönen and Massa.
Starting side by side, the Spaniard had a better start, but overdid it and went straight through the first corner. Hamilton held on to the lead, and Heidfeld took second place. The Briton quickly opened up a comfortable distance, while Alonso made another mistake at the first corner and lost third place to Massa.
On lap 22, just after Hamilton's first pit-stop, German Adrian Sutil crashed his Spyker at the exit of turn 4 and caused the Safety Car to come on. Williams' Fernando and Nico Rosberg had to stop with the pits closed to avoid a dry run, and received a 10-second 'stop and go' penalty. Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella came out of the pits with the red light, and were disqualified on lap 51.
A few laps later came the incident that marked the race. Robert Kubica tried to overtake Italian Jarno Trulli, hit the back of his Toyota, and ended up in a high-speed crash. The Pole hit the walls on both sides of the track, and his BMW Sauber was completely destroyed. Kubica suffered only a concussion and a sprained ankle, but he was not released for the following race in Indianapolis, promoting Sebastian Vettel's debut in the category.
The race still had two more safety-car entries at the end, but nothing that could prevent Hamilton from winning, even comfortably, for the first time in Formula 1. Nick Heidfeld crossed second, and Alexander Wurz put Williams on the podium after starting 19th. Alonso was overtaken by Takuma Sato in the final laps, finished only seventh, and didn't even say hello to the Briton after the race.
"It's been an amazing season so far, we already have six podiums. I was ready to win for a while now, it was just a matter of where and when. The team gave me the best car, I had no problems during the race, and I have to dedicate this victory to my father, because without him none of this would be possible," the 22-year-old said at the post-race press conference.
That was the beginning of one of the greatest internal rivalries in Formula 1 history, which would end with the Prince of Asturias leaving the team after only one season. The fight between the two paved the way for Kimi Raikkönen to win the title by just one point and complete a frustrating season for McLaren, which was disqualified from the Constructors' World Championship after the spying case against Ferrari.
Alonso's exit paved the way for Hamilton's first title the following year. But the dominant manner in which he took his first victory, in what was only his sixth Formula 1 race, made it clear to everyone: there in Montreal, 15 years ago, the brightest star in the history of motor racing was beginning to emerge.