Lewis Hamilton may have made his System 1 debut at Sauber as a substitute of McLaren had negotiations between the 2 groups not fallen by.
Former Sauber group principal Peter Sauber made the revelation in an interview late final 12 months.
Hamilton was a part of McLaren’s younger driver programme as he progressed by the junior driver classes. He received the previous System 3 Euroseries in 2005 adopted by the GP2 (now System 2) collection the next 12 months.
Talking in late 2025, Sauber stated he and McLaren’s management mentioned Hamilton becoming a member of the group 20 years earlier. He may due to this fact have made his F1 debut early with Sauber in 2005, or the next 12 months, by which era it had rebranded as BMW Sauber following its tie-up with the German automobile producer.
Hamilton as a substitute made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007. Sauber stated the discussions fell by as a result of he needed a extra long-term deal than McLaren have been prepared to conform to.
“Hardly anybody is aware of that round 20 years in the past Lewis Hamilton virtually drove for us,” Sauber informed Blick. “The Briton belonged to McLaren, and so they needed to ship him to Hinwil for his System 1 apprenticeship. So the McLaren delegation met with Lewis and his father, together with our in-house lawyer Monisha Kaltenborn and myself, at Kloten Airport.”
“The deal fell by as a result of McLaren solely needed to mortgage him to us for one 12 months – whereas we insisted on two.”
Sauber ran Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve in 2005. The latter left in the midst of the next season, and was changed by Robert Kubica, whereas Nick Heidfeld took Massa’s place.
Hamilton got here near profitable the F1 title on his debut at McLaren. He ended the season one level behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and tied with group mate Fernando Alonso.
The Sauber group has rebranded once more this 12 months following its takeover by Audi.
Record of Sauber F1 drivers
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