Expat Village is edited and published by
Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela.
McLaren have ended all the speculation surrounding Fernando Alonso's teammate, confirming that Lewis Hamilton will make his F1 debut next season alongside the two-time world champion.
The F1 future of the 21 year old McLaren protege has been the topic of much speculation following his impressive showing in the GP2 series this year, where he won the championship.
"It's a dream come true," said Hamilton. "To be racing in Formula 1 with McLaren has been the ultimate goal for me since I was very young and this opportunity is a fantastic way to end what has been the best year for me.
"I have grown up with McLaren and Mercedes and wouldn't be where I am today without their continued support and guidance. However I'm aware that this will be a challenge and I know that there will be a lot of attention on me. However the team has told me just to relax, do the best I can and enjoy the opportunity. I will work hard to get good results."
Pedro de la Rosa, who had held out hope of competing on an all-Spanish team, will continue to carry out testing duties for McLaren alongwith Gary Paffett, who failed to land a ride with another team.
"I have always been aware that the team might decide to give another driver the same opportunity, so the fact that Lewis will be in the car comes as no surprise," said de la Rosa. "Obviously I would have preferred to race myself but also understand why the team has decided to put Lewis in the car."
McLaren boss Ron Dennis confirmed that while the media speculation swirled around Hamilton's future, he had already made the decision to promote the youngster to full-time status even before the 2006 season had ended. However, he did not want to take away from an intriguing championship battle and Michael Schumacher's retirement announcement.
Dennis also admitted that after scanning the grid for potential drivers, he couldn't find anyone who he thought would be better than Hamilton.
"I'm distinctly unimpressed with the majority of drivers in F1 today," said Dennis. "We looked at the grid and felt that a lot of them had reached a plateau in their careers and none really shone out.
"If you put all the drivers in equal cars I think Lewis would beat a significant percent of them."
Hamilton will be the fourth British driver in the series next season, joining Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Anthony Davidson. He'll also be the first black driver to compete in Formula One and many have compared his participation in the sport to that of Tiger Woods and what he has done for golf.
But Dennis says the color of Hamilton's skin is unimportant to him.
"His blackness isn't important," he has previously stated. "I have consistently said to him: 'The moment that you exploit your blackness, you are going to have a problem with me.' Basically, you've got to develop your career on your ability to drive a racing car."
Hamilton will be the first rookie to start the season with McLaren since Michael Andretti in 1993.
Hamilton's rise through the ranks of motorsport reads like a rags-to-riches fairytale. As a 12 year old at an awards ceremony in London, England, he boldly walked up to McLaren boss Ron Dennis, introduced himself and declared that he would one day drive one of his F1 cars.
In 1996, he won the McLaren Mercedes 'champions of the future' karting series and two years later was one of the first to be a part of McLaren and Mercedes Benz' Young Driver Support Programme.
After moving to the top of the various karting ranks, Hamilton dominated the 2003 British Formula Renault Championship by winning 10 of 15 races.
He further solidified his racing future by dominating the Formula 3 Euro series in 2005 before moving on to GP2 and winning that title in his very first season in 2006.
Expat Village is edited and published by
Iain Williams in Caracas, Venezuela.
