Motor Racing: Hamilton Ready for Testing

Lewis Hamilton could have his first official test in a McLaren-Mercedes formula one car at Silverstone as early as next week, intensifying speculation that the 21-year-old British driver is being groomed as Fernando Alonso's team-mate for the 2007 world championship season.

Hamilton, who clinched the GP2 title ahead of Nelson Piquet junior at Monza last weekend, yesterday said he is fully ready to race in formula one. But he insisted he would be guided by the McLaren management when it comes to deciding whether it would be a better career move to test drive for a season before stepping up to a race drive.

"I have done everything I need to do to prove that I'm ready to race a formula one car," he said. "I need to do testing and get plenty of miles under my belt. I benefited in GP2 from having a team-mate [Alex Premat] who had a year's more experience than me, so having the best driver [in formula one] alongside me makes the idea of racing alongside Alonso best for me."

Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman, hinted at Monza that Hamilton would test the formula one car soon, but the driver stressed no firm decision had been made. "I haven't had a call from Ron yet [regarding testing]," he said, "and as far as the second drive for next season being mine to lose, well it's not mine in the first place. It's Pedro de la Rosa's."

If Hamilton does not test at Silverstone it is probable his first outing will be at the Jerez circuit in Spain during the week after the Japanese grand prix on October 8.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, has accused Alonso of "pitiful behaviour" after the Spaniard described his German rival as the least sporting driver of all time. Weber was quoted by Bild as saying that Alonso's comment to Spain's Radio Marca was an "unbelievable insult, totally below the belt". Weber added: "I regard Alonso as a brilliant driver, but his behaviour right now is just pitiful. Michael will give him a suitable answer on the track."