Lewis Hamilton recalled one of the most important moments of his Formula 1 career when talking about the 2007 Canadian GP, the scene of his first victory in the category. The Briton stated that that weekend was decisive to prove that he had the ability to compete at the same level as Fernando Alonso, then his teammate, right in his debut season.
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That year, Hamilton joined McLaren with two-time champion Alonso as his teammate, considered the absolute leader of the team after the titles won by Renault (now Alpine). According to the Briton, there was an internal expectation that he would be up to half a second behind the Spaniard during the season.
“I entered that season hearing that I would be half a second behind Fernando. They told me not to be surprised by that,” Hamilton said. Although he managed to keep up with Alonso from the start of the championship, the British driver explained that he faced difficulties adapting to the behavior of the cars at the time, especially regarding traction control.
Hamilton revealed that he used a more aggressive configuration of the system, different from the choice made by his teammate: “Fernando always used it at maximum, while I left it at minimum, which ended up hurting pure performance. It took me a while to get used to it and understand how to use it,” he said.
The Briton also recalled that, being a rookie at McLaren, he usually carried more fuel during qualifying sessions because of the team’s pit stop strategies. Since the two cars needed to stop on different laps, Hamilton ended up starting at a disadvantage compared to Alonso.
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“I always received more fuel and had two extra laps compared to Fernando. Even so, I was sure I could beat him in qualifying, I just needed the opportunity, and I fought for that from the first race,” he added.
It was precisely at the 2007 Canadian GP that the opportunity arose, when McLaren decided to put the same fuel load in both cars during qualifying. Hamilton took advantage of the equal conditions to achieve his first pole position in Formula 1 and, later, his first victory in the category.
For the seven-time world champion, that result had a huge impact on his career and strengthened his confidence: “I got pole in Canada and that validated my belief in myself, showed that I had what it takes to win. I also proved to my boss that he was wrong when he said I would be half a second slower. That taught me that you should always fight for what you believe in,” he concluded.
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