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Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley says that very few people knew who Lewis Hamilton was when he came into Formula 1 with the British team in 2007.
In his rookie year, Hamilton was placed in the team alongside Fernando Alonso, where Priestley was the chief mechanic. He came so close to winning the championship in his debut season, it is surprising to consider than many people didn't know who he was going to into the season.
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Hamilton soon grabbed his first title, only a year later in 2008 and has gone on to win four more with Mercedes. Priestley told me that be believes Hamilton is the most complete driver on the current grid.
"I think that the two most complete drivers are, it is difficult to split them, Lewis [Hamilton] and Fernando [Alonso]. I worked with Lewis in his early years, and of course he has matured a lot since I worked with him, but both of those two are so difficult to split because they put so much into what they do. They have obviously got an incredible talent, but they also work so hard to try and find improvements all of the time. I think that is probably what makes those two probably the best."
He told Autosport: “I worked at McLaren when there were stories that Lewis Hamilton would be promoted.
“He was not yet a Formula One driver at the time and was active in GP2,” [now Formula 2]. When we heard that he would most likely be promoted, we all thought he was not a little too young?And many people did not even know who he was.
“Upon arrival, it soon became clear that Lewis was a special boy. He was super young, but incredibly fast.
“The most extraordinary thing was that he immediately knew that he had to deal with the pressure.
“Sure, a number of things did not go well, but many things did. In his second season, he was already World Champion, not many people can say that.”
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Many still doesn’t know who Hamilton still is ( outside f1). He is working hard to let them know. That’s why he is far more precious to the business than the rest, not just those 5 saucer-less cups.