Motor Racing: Grand Prix Star Remembers Those Who Schooled Him

One of the first things Lewis Hamilton did when he arrived at Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix last weekend was to think of the past rather than his exciting future. Hamilton took the trouble to seek out the paddock set aside for the support races - usually alien territory for anyone inhabiting the lofty world of Formula One - and visit two of the small teams responsible for his schooling.

'That was so typical of Lewis,' says John Booth, the owner of the Manor Motorsport Formula Three team. 'There he was, facing a big weekend, leading the F1 championship, and he took time to come and have a chat.'

Booth, a former competitor on the British club scene, has had a number of promising drivers through his hands since becoming a very successful team owner. Hamilton moved from karts to race for Booth in Formula Renault and then F3.

'McLaren asked us to give Lewis a test in our Formula Renault car,' says Booth. 'He had never driven a racing car before - not even a road car because he was only 16 - and he crashed after a couple of laps. That was almost to be expected and the thing that really impressed me was, when the lads put the car back together again, he went back out and immediately went very quickly. The accident hadn't fazed him at all.'

Hamilton was the clear favorite to win the Formula Renault title in his second season with the Yorkshire-based team. 'We'd been quickest in the pre-season test,' says Booth. 'But things went awry at the first race: he got taken off by a backmarker. He went for three races without winning, which was a surprise to us, to say the least. Then we went to Silverstone. He was lying fifth, on slicks, and it rained. He came through and won quite comfortably. That was it. He just clicked, his confidence was up and I don't think he was beaten again for the rest of that season.

'When we moved into F3, we didn't have the most competitive car. He won a couple of races but that must have been quite difficult for Lewis because he has this amazing desire to win. But, even when the going is difficult, you won't have a spat or a tantrum.

'Lewis has this natural way which gets everyone on side. Ayrton Senna would have the same aim, but be manipulative. When we were racing together, Ayrton was a very pleasant young man but he'd be quite cold about it. He would say, "I will do this, and I will get the mechanics on my side." But, with Lewis, you would regularly see him bouncing about with a smile on his face. That's the way he's always been.

'It's been wonderful to see him maturing. A lot of drivers have promise but not all of them develop and mature. Lewis has done that but the way he has become mistake-free in F1 is the thing that has impressed me most.'

For 2005, Hamilton moved to ASM, a rival team in the European F3 series, before stepping up to GP2 with ASM's sister team, ART Grand Prix, in 2006. He won 15 F3 races and championships in both categories. Frederic Vasseur is co-owner of ASM.

'I first met Lewis in 2004,' says Vasseur. 'It was obvious that he was a natural but also very dedicated. All drivers say that their ambition is to be world champion but very few actually focus on doing it. Lewis is one of the few. He is able to motivate the team because he is friendly with everyone. And he is completely honest with himself. If he qualified badly, he would say, "I did a poor job. The car is fine. Don't change it. It's my fault." That makes such a difference because, if a driver blames his car, you can waste so much time changing it and going off in the wrong direction.

'There were many very impressive drives from Lewis when he was with us. I remember particularly a few from GP2 last year. Silverstone [when Hamilton overtook two cars with a single move] was a fantastic moment for me. And in Turkey, when he had spun to the back of the field, his comeback was incredible. And yet he did not take any big risks. Usually when a driver is coming back from something like that, he passes everyone - and then crashes. Lewis was using his brain, thinking of the championship and picking off the other drivers one by one. At the Nurburgring, when it started raining and everyone was on slicks, Lewis was two to three seconds a lap faster than the others. I got on the radio and said, "Calm down". He replied, "OK, it's not a problem." It just came so easy to him. At the pit wall during a race, I was never nervous about him.

'He was having a great fight with his team-mate, Alexandre Premat, in Barcelona. Premat hit Hamilton and sent his car into a spin on the last lap and yet he congratulated Alex on the podium. "Alex is not the problem," he said. "The problem was my start." Meaning that if he had made a better start, the problem would not have arisen. That's Lewis. An incredible guy.'