Flavio Briatore says McLaren boss ‘completely underestimated’ Lewis Hamilton before his rookie year

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Ron Dennis didn’t understand how good Lewis Hamilton was when he first signed him for McLaren, Flavio Briatore says.

Hamilton delivered one of the finest GP2 campaigns ever to win the title in 2006, taking five victories and 14 podiums in 21 races.

But Fernando Alonso, who joined from Renault after winning back-to-back titles, was supposed to be the team’s superstar, supported by a rookie teammate.

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Flavio Briatore: Ron Dennis realised how good Lewis Hamilton was after one race

Hamilton produced an all-time great rookie season to finish level on points with Alonso and only one behind title winner Kimi Raikkonen. But for a late collapse, he would have become the first rookie champion since the sport’s inception.

However, the unexpected pace of the 22-year-old led to a rather explosive falling out with Alonso’s camp, which meant the relationship could only last one year. The Spaniard felt as if the team were favouring their new British superstar.

When Alonso returned to Renault, Dennis turned to Heikki Kovalainen, who had also entered F1 in 2007. He was apparently convinced Kovalainen was a ‘superstar’, but Hamilton beat him handily.

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Briatore could see this coming, based on his comments on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.

“Ron Dennis underestimated Hamilton completely,” said Briatore, Alonso’s long-time manager. “You remember, Ron Dennis was taking one of my drivers. Ron Dennis estimated that Kovalainen was a superstar. I gave him to him because I believed he was not a superstar.

“We arrived to the two guys, Fernando and Hamilton. After one race, Ron Dennis understood how quick [Hamilton was].”

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Hamilton passed Alonso around the outside at the start of his debut race in Australia, ultimately finishing one place behind his teammate in third.

Facing a weaker opponent in 2008, he outscored Hakkinen 98-60 under the old 10-points-per-win system. The Finn only beat him in five races all year.