[Saba Sports News] Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has publicly revealed for the first time that his maiden victory in the 2007 season came amid unequal treatment within the team. The seven-time world champion stated that across his first five races with McLaren, the team consistently adopted a lighter fuel load strategy for Fernando Alonso, forcing Hamilton to make up the deficit purely with faster lap times.
The 2007 campaign marked Hamilton’s Formula 1 debut. Aged just 22, he stepped straight into the McLaren squad to partner Alonso, who had just secured back-to-back world titles. The pairing was widely expected to see a champion mentor a rookie, yet their relationship quickly deteriorated into one of the most tense internal rivalries across the paddock. Looking back, Hamilton said he never accepted the notion that a rookie should be content with finishing second. He admitted he was fiercely competitive; he did not merely aim to learn, but to win races. What frustrated him most was the team’s biased race strategies. Hamilton explained that in those opening five rounds, McLaren always ran Alonso with less fuel, with a difference equivalent to two laps of fuel between the two drivers.
As his discontent grew, Hamilton began putting pressure on the team to demand equal treatment. Eventually, McLaren implemented identical fuel strategies for both drivers starting from the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix — a decision that reshaped the entire season. That weekend, Hamilton claimed pole position and went on to secure his first career F1 win. He followed up with another victory at the United States Grand Prix, notching back-to-back triumphs.
In my opinion, the 2007 turmoil was essentially a result of poor management at McLaren. The team failed to clarify the number one driver role before the season, sparking clashes between the two star drivers. Ultimately, McLaren turned out to be the real loser, suffering penalties, missing out on the championship and sustaining severe damage to its reputation.