Before the fiery rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the Brit had a different competitor. An older competitor with a well-established rapport and a lot more experience in the premier class. A rival that he met at the very beginning of his career and tussles with to this day. We all know it’s none other than Fernando Alonso. However, a piece of Hamilton’s life reveals the Spaniard did not like the Brit even before they met.

This is a story of 2006 when Hamilton was just announced as the newest McLaren driver. The Formula 1 rookie earned the McLaren seat next to the back-to-back two-time world champion Alonso. An ambitious Alonso joined the McLaren project in 2007 from Renault to win championships, which he felt wasn’t possible with a rookie.

As revealed by the then McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh and quoted by BBC, Alonso wasn’t happy with the team’s decision to sign a rookie. In fact, Alonso communicated his desire for a stronger teammate.

Whitmarsh says: “Fernando was, ‘Well, why are we doing that? If we’re going to try to win the championship, we don’t need a kid in the car, we need someone experienced. I need a strong team-mate; we don’t need a rookie.’ But it turned out to be quite a different story.”

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We all know Hamilton produced the best-ever rookie season in F1 history, finishing ahead of Alonso in the standings. However, it could’ve all been undone.

Whitmarsh reveals how he almost did not sign Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is an exceptional driver and even his rivals from today have agreed to the fact. However, it could’ve been all undone by the then McLaren CEO.

Hamilton was supported by McLaren for years in the junior categories. However, there came a time when his contract was ripped up by Whitmarsh after a disagreement with his father.

“In the end, I took the contract out and tore it up,” said Whitmarsh. However, fate saved Whitemarsh as he revealed, “It was about six weeks before Lewis rang me and we re-signed. I look back now and think, ‘I could have been the person who tore Lewis Hamilton’s contract up and never got him back.’ I was so lucky, really.”

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Imagine the sport without Lewis Hamilton in it. One cannot! Even if it wasn’t for McLaren, the Brit wouldn’t have made his way to Formula 1 one way or the other.

Luckily for McLaren, they gave him the start he needed!