FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Matkins]

Hello people. Do you honestly think that other drivers don't approach big teams ASAP. Of course they do, and they all get turned down. Hamilton has been the only one lucky enough to get a drive straight away. He was also lucky that the free seat was there,
and that McLaren already the experienced Alonso onboard, so they could risk a young driver.

No i don't think many drivers do approach big teams, or any f1 teams, until they're in a direct feeder series. There's obviously some who get on their case very early on. But I wonder if anyone else has ever approached an F1 team principle at the age of 10, or younger. I don't think there was any infrastructure at that time to nurture young drivers, and so it was 3 years later that Hamilton joined McLaren's Young Driver Support Programme. But it's not as simple as that. He had to become champion of Forumla Renault, Formula 3 and GP2 before getting his McLaren seat. Yeah, thats just pure luck isn't it. Don't rubish a truely fantastic achievement.

[Denthúl]

Hello people. Do you honestly think that other drivers don't approach big teams ASAP. Of course they do, and they all get turned down. Hamilton has been the only one lucky enough to get a drive straight away. He was also lucky that the free seat was there,
and that McLaren already the experienced Alonso onboard, so they could risk a young driver.

he may have been lucky to have been helped along his way but people always forget when this is brought up that natural talent and determination are what truly got him the drive in the end! something that cannot be bought or trained!

or do people think when he was 12 in 1997 that Ron had already planned a seat for him in 2007 and that was it?

No. But Theissen might have

[7UpJordan]

Hello people. Do you honestly think that other drivers don't approach big teams ASAP. Of course they do, and they all get turned down. Hamilton has been the only one lucky enough to get a drive straight away. He was also lucky that the free seat was there,
and that McLaren already the experienced Alonso onboard, so they could risk a young driver.

he may have been lucky to have been helped along his way but people always forget when this is brought up that natural talent and determination are what truly got him the drive in the end! something that cannot be bought or trained!

or do people think when he was 12 in 1997 that Ron had already planned a seat for him in 2007 and that was it?

No. But Theissen might have

Interesting that you mentioned Thiessen, in 2004 when Anthony and Lewis went to see Sir Frank, Dr Thiessen did not take to the idea of Williams taking on Lewis when they were still with BMW. Lewis even as a 19 year old back then would have been a better prospect than "Half" Schumacher.

[Denthúl]

Hello people. Do you honestly think that other drivers don't approach big teams ASAP. Of course they do, and they all get turned down. Hamilton has been the only one lucky enough to get a drive straight away. He was also lucky that the free seat was there,
and that McLaren already the experienced Alonso onboard, so they could risk a young driver.

he may have been lucky to have been helped along his way but people always forget when this is brought up that natural talent and determination are what truly got him the drive in the end! something that cannot be bought or trained!

or do people think when he was 12 in 1997 that Ron had already planned a seat for him in 2007 and that was it?

No. But Theissen might have

Interesting that you mentioned Thiessen, in 2004 when Anthony and Lewis went to see Sir Frank, Dr Thiessen did not take to the idea of Williams taking on Lewis when they were still with BMW. Lewis even as a 19 year old back then would have been a better prospect than "Half" Schumacher.

It was a dig at Mario's precise planning, actually