Over the years, F1 has encountered many great rivalries, and it is natural for this dog-eat-dog competition to take a toll on any relationship between drivers. Such was the case for the driver lineup at McLaren in 2007, which featured Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

On the grid, your teammate is your biggest rival, as they share the same machinery. This further makes them your closest performance benchmark and the biggest threat to steal your spotlight. Alonso, who had already acclaimed two world titles under his belt, at that time faced a challenge from the up-and-coming talent Lewis Hamilton.

2007 championship unfolded for the Woking outfit like it was an episode of the ‘Drive To Survive’ series. Despite being a rookie, the young Brit outshone the Spaniard in the first half of the season. As a result, the relationship descended into outright internal warfare, and the two were likely to butt heads.

The championship concluded with both McLaren drivers scoring 109 points each, while the Ferrari driver, Kimi Raikkonen wore the F1 crown that year. However, it was enough to motivate Alonso to call it quits with the British and move to Renault for the upcoming season.

In an interview, he revisited his relationship with Hamilton as teammates; he started with friendly banter as he said, “He has a special place with me, he’s out of category, he doesn’t count.”

“The whole of Spain didn’t like him,” replied his accompaniment. 

“During that time he wasn’t too bad. He was a rookie. He got worse with years, now I see him a bit more lost” 

“There’s always bad and good guys, that’s part of the sport,” Alonso concluded.

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How do you rate the 2007 McLaren driver lineup?

Lewis Hamilton lists his toughest F1 opponent

After turning heads in the junior categories, the boy from Stevenage rose through the ranks and secured a seat in the premier class of motorsport. Nevertheless, in his rookie season itself, he found himself next to a multi-time world champion who knew his way around the block as an F1 veteran.

Notably, over the years Hamilton has encountered many major rivalries in the form of his duels with Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Max Verstappen in 2021. Despite this, the 37-year-old is adamant that it was his rookie year teammate that gave him a run for his money.

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The Briton said, “I remember the task of being alongside Fernando when I was 22.”

“I was so young mentally and of course, OK in terms of skill, but it’s a lot of pressure to go against a great like him.”

“So I would say out of pure pace, I always say my toughest opponent is Fernando and his ability. We had some good battles, I wish we could have more and hopefully he’s going to continue to race, so hopefully we will have more in the future.”

Watch This Story: Lewis Hamilton Finds Himself in an Unusual Situation With His Teammate for the First Time Since 2007

Which is your favorite rivalry over all these years?