Lewis Hamilton may have made his Formulation 1 debut at Sauber as an alternative of McLaren had negotiations between the 2 groups not fallen by way of.
Former Sauber crew 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 way of the junior driver classes. He received the previous Formulation 3 Euroseries in 2005 adopted by the GP2 (now Formulation 2) sequence the next 12 months.
Talking in late 2025, Sauber stated he and McLaren’s management mentioned Hamilton becoming a member of the crew 20 years earlier. He may subsequently 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 automotive producer.
Hamilton as an alternative made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007. Sauber stated the discussions fell by way of as a result of he needed a extra long-term deal than McLaren had been keen to conform to.
“Hardly anybody is aware of that round 20 years in the past Lewis Hamilton nearly drove for us,” Sauber instructed Blick. “The Briton belonged to McLaren, they usually needed to ship him to Hinwil for his Formulation 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 way of 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 successful the F1 title on his debut at McLaren. He ended the season one level behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and tied with crew mate Fernando Alonso.
The Sauber crew has rebranded once more this 12 months following its takeover by Audi.
Checklist of Sauber F1 drivers
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