Lewis Hamilton was ‘really surprised’ by one thing Fernando Alonso did before his Formula 1 debut

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Lewis Hamilton was involved in one of the tensest intra-team battles seen this century during his debut Formula 1 campaign.

After winning back-to-back drivers’ championships with Renault, Fernando Alonso joined McLaren for the 2007 F1 season.

Ron Dennis had signed the most talented driver on the grid after the retirement of Michael Schumacher, but decided it was time to unleash McLaren’s finest young talent on Formula 1 that year: Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren backed Hamilton for much of his junior career, and after thousands of kilometres of testing, Dennis decided he was ready for F1 off the back of winning the GP2 championship.

Hamilton and Alonso fought viciously throughout that season, and ultimately ended up costing each other the title as Kimi Raikkonen stormed through to win Ferrari’s most recent drivers’ championship.

Alonso reportedly earned 34 times what Hamilton did that year, but the Spaniard left at the end of the year, quickly discovering he would not be handed number-one treatment like he was expecting.

However, before their relationship soured, Hamilton spoke about his admiration for the two-time world champion and admitted one thing he said during their initial encounter really surprised him.

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Lewis Hamilton ‘really surprised’ by Fernando Alonso during their first ever meeting

Hamilton was asked about his new teammate in an interview with ITV Sport ahead of his debut at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix and shared: “The first time we met was last year in Turkey, I was in the hotel and he was having dinner in the restaurant, and so was I with my dad.

“He finished, and he came over and introduced himself, and I was really surprised. I was sort of taken aback, like wow, the world champion has recognised me and came over to say hello!

“But he’s very down-to-earth, he’s very relaxed, very calm, and I think we share a lot of the same sort of personality.

“I mean, he likes to just stay relaxed and try to sort of stay out of the media. He doesn’t really like too much of the attention, but he loves to race, so we obviously share that in common.

“But, he’s very focused, works very hard, so when you’re at the test, there’s a lot you can learn from him just about his approach, but at the races, there’s going to be even more.”

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Lewis Hamilton explains what was ‘extremely tough’ about driving an F1 car for the first time

Hamilton was also asked what it was like jumping into an F1 car for the first time and said: “The thing is, the first time I got in it, it was a fantastic feeling obviously, but it was tough.

“The car was driving me, and you’re really working very hard to get the most out of the car on one lap, and as soon as you start to get used to it, you’re able to then take control and sort of sit back and really it comes a lot easier.

“Again, it’s extremely tough, but it’s fantastic driving the thing. It’s so quick, so much speed, and the adrenaline is pumping non-stop, and it’s just really difficult to describe it, but it’s completely different to any other car I’ve driven.”

The pair finished level on points in 2007, with Raikkonen beating them both by a single point after winning the final race in Japan.

However, Hamilton enjoyed the last laugh by sticking with McLaren the following year and winning what was set to be the first of his seven championships.

McLaren reportedly wanted to immediately re-sign Alonso after letting him go at the end of 2007, and he would eventually return some years later.

But the 44-year-old’s second spell with McLaren was even worse and led him to quit F1 altogether to go and race in other series, before returning with Alpine in 2021.

Hamilton and Alonso will never be close, and even as recently as the Singapore Grand Prix, Alonso was furious with Hamilton for cutting several corners after his brakes failed to reach the chequered flag.

It’s fascinating to hear how their relationship has changed over the years, and the initial respect Hamilton had for his first F1 teammate.