Martin Galpin | Racing Driver | number66.net

Lewis Hamilton‘s route to Formula One is as good as it gets. It took just six years and in this time he showed dominance throughout each major championship in which he took part, cumulating in the GP2 title last year. It is hard to find fault or weakness in his ascent to the [joint] lead of the Formula One World Championship and to becoming the most successful rookie in the history of the sport.

Lewis first made Grand Prix history in 1998, when at just 13 years old, he became the youngest driver ever to be contracted to a Formula One team [McLaren]. This began his journey; from karting to Formula One not once did he need to consider the financial requirements of his chosen sport. My question is, in an alternate reality, without the patronage of McLaren‘s Ron Dennis, would he still be in with a chance of becoming a Formula One World Champion at his first attempt?

Lewis’ rise to stardom is good for all involved in UK motor sport. It has raised its profile in the National Media and that will have a knock on effect on competitor numbers. It may even be the saviour of the struggling national kart scene as journalists inevitably ask just where the next Lewis Hamilton will come from.

Legend has it that in 1996, aged 11, a young Lewis Hamilton approached McLaren CEO Ron Dennis during the Autosport International Awards. He spoke, “I’m going to race for you one day…I’m going to race for McLaren.”. Two years later and it was official. By means of an unsolicited phone call, Dennis asked “How would like to drive for me?”. Lewis was still just 13 but suddenly his career was set.

In 2001 he took a familiar first route into single-seaters with the Formula Renault UK winter series. After finishing 5th overall, he stayed for the main championship in 2002, finishing 3rd and again in 2003 to become the convincing champion and take his first single-seater title.

In 2003 he left Britain for a place in Euroseries Formula Three, staying with Manor Motorsport, the team whom he was triumphant with in Formula Renault. He finished 5th overall, taking just one win. For 2004 he switched to crack Formula Three outfit ASM, with whom Jamie Green won in 2003. With another convincing campaign, Hamilton took the title after 15 victories and 10 pole positions.

Following such dominant success with ASM in Formula Three, it only made sense to enter GP2 with championship winning outfit ART Grand Prix. The team, formed especially for the maiden GP2 season in 2005, is a collaboration between Frederic Vasseur (principal of ASM Formule 3) and Nicolas Todt.

What happened next needs little explanation. His performance in GP2 was exceptional and with 5 wins, he won the most prestigious feeder series into Formula One at his first attempt. This was enough to bring him firmly to the attention of the big Formula One teams and indeed the international media.

And whilst everyone concentrates on his performance, what is often over looked is the significant investment made by Ron Dennis and McLaren. If this is calculated conservatively, as below, excluding domestic costs (salary, travel, transport) it would be close to the following.

A rough timeline of the costs involved in getting Lewis into Formula One.

So if the true figure is closer to £3.5 million, over a nine year period it took a continual investment of just under £400,000 annually to create the sports next superstar. Whether he could have raised this on his own is doubtful. The modest wealth of his father Anthony would surely have become restrictive and his career path distinctly different. Without the support of a Formula One team, how would this British talent ever have reached Formula One?

The same can be said about Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Heikki Kovalainen, all of whom benefited from the support of a Formula One team’s driver development programme.

Yet, isn’t this the scope that the MSA British Race Elite scheme should really be addressing? Doesn’t the MSA hold any responsibility for the future development of all British talent?

The UK motor sport industry is worth in the region of £4.6 billion per annum. With the appropriate motivation is it beyond the realms of possibility for the MSA to involve industry partners to secure funding for a scholarship scheme? Other “expensive” sports such as Sailing, Tennis and Golf all have schemes and scholarships to encourage grass roots participation.

In theory, competition is meritocratic – success is achieved through the demonstration of ability. Perhaps throughout history, motor sport has failed in this respect.

Perhaps ultimately, it is without the necessary motivation. Lewis Hamiliton will become the face of British motor sport for the coming decade and after that a successor will emerge. There is no crisis amongst British racing drivers, no shortage of candidates to Formula One and because of that the industry, along with the MSA, feel no need to take on any responsibility for driver funding.

Lewis has always had a special talent, of that there is no doubt. But how far would he have got without a fully funded McLaren development programme? In the end, the overwhelming truth is that whatever support Lewis has enjoyed throughout his career, he has always made the absolute most of it.

And for that opportunity, we should all be greatful to Ron Dennis.

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