A 21-year-old rookie tussling the reigning World champion at the first corner of his F1 career. Lewis Hamilton showed the world in Melbourne back in 2007, that he isn’t a normal rookie. And 15 years later today, he has etched his name in the history book of legendary F1 drivers.

Lewis Hamilton rocked up as a budding talent in the F1 paddock in his debut season and he proved his worth. After a splendid season with McLaren falling short of the championship by a solitary point, everyone knew Lewis was special.

Today after 7 world championships and 103 race wins later, Hamilton has become the voice of F1. The Briton is as synonymous as any other brand with the pinnacle of motorsport.

David Richards of Motorsport UK hailed Lewis on how he stands for what he believes in. Richards told CNN Sport, “He’ll be remembered for lots of reasons, you simply cannot deny the force of Lewis Hamilton. We’re going to see a lot more of Lewis Hamilton after his career has finished.”

The 7-time champion has been supporting several social issues besides his racing. Despite that, the 37-year-old is not looking to step away from F1 anytime soon.

Maurice Hamilton who was reporting the 2007 Australian GP for The Observer, a British newspaper, told CNN Sport in 2020, “He’s been driving better than ever. that’s brought this assured touch, because he’s that bit older, he’s more mature, and making fewer and fewer mistakes, which is the sign of a good champion.”

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Maurice who also penned a biography of the late 3-time champion Niki Lauda has followed Lewis’s career closely. He drew parallels between how Lewis and Michael Schumacher have got a gyroscopic ability to judge the balance of the car and eke out speed from it.

How Lewis Hamilton made a masterstroke of a Career move to Mercedes

Despite his blistering first 2 seasons in F1, Hamilton suffered from the inconsistency of McLaren in further seasons. From 2009 to 2012, the Briton challenged for the championship twice, faltering both times.

McLaren had reliability issues and pit stop errors that may have cost Hamilton several good results. Yet, they had a competitive car which is why Lewis was hoping to stick out at Woking.

Though when Niki Lauda approached him on Mercedes’ behalf, Lewis asked him why he should move to a team that is placed 5th in the championship. The Austrian had no answer. But he replied in his convincing fashion, making Hamilton dream about the utopian scenario.

Lauda said to Hamilton, “what if you become the first world champion in a Mercedes?” Niki, who was the non-Executive director at the Silver Arrows, assured Lewis that if he joined, they would do everything to give him a competitive car.

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It was an arguable gamble that turned out to be a masterstroke. Hamilton may have been thanking Lauda, in his heart, every time he became the world champion with Mercedes.