Lewis Hamilton - Lewis Hamilton: My Story

To the people who made this all possible
To my family, to McLaren and to Mercedes-Benz

That I led the championship from the third race of the season all the way to the last was an amazing feat in itself, even if it meant the final outcome was tinged with some disappointment. I soon got over that, though

MY STORY IS NOT ABOUT LUCK OR A FAIRY TALE. It is about hard work, about my familys sacrifices and determination, my dads huge support for me and many other peoples belief and kindness. I found I had a talent and I have worked as hard as possible to develop it so that I can be successful and in the process inspire others, if I can, to achieve a dream.

It has been an unbelievable year, easily the most exciting and challenging of my life. From the start in Melbourne, which seems so long ago now, to the finish in So Paulo, I travelled through a phenomenal Formula One year, winning four races, finishing as runner-up in five, and battling for podium finishes in a few others, in my rookie season with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.

That I led the championship from the third race of the season all the way to the last was an amazing feat in itself, even if it meant the final outcome was tinged with some disappointment. I soon got over that, though thanks to my dads endless positive energy and example, and the McLaren teams great spirit, not to mention a memorable team party organized by Vodafone on the Sunday night after that final race at Interlagos. It summed up our unity at the end of a very trying season and I admit I enjoyed the opportunity to let my hair down a bit with my friends and team-mates. Shoot, it was worth it! I ended the season with good vibes. I felt proud of the team for the way they had worked through to the end of a really difficult, troubled year. The So Paulo party was good for us all. Ron Dennis made a speech and said some really good things and we had a great evening. It just rounded off the whole year and, when I was mentioned a couple of times, it made me feel proud to be part of that team.

So much happened to me in such a short a space of time that, when the season ended, I felt like I needed to stop, look back and take stock of what had happened. But in Formula One there is no time for that. The search for progress is relentless, the appetite for success, improvement and frontier-breaking unquenchable. Stand still for a moment and your rivals will pass you. Whoooosh! That is the competitive nature of the sport. It comes out in every aspect of all of the teams activities. Nothing is left to chance, no stone left unturned, in pursuit of greater speed, efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of a racing team. And that restlessness reflects the way I have always felt about my life in racing. I always want to move on and on, to keep going forward to the next level and the next challenge. But I always want to succeed properly, fair and square, out on the track and not in any other way.

I had arrived in So Paulo leading the championship by four points, but I left in second place, just a single point behind the new champion Kimi Rikknen. I may have been hit by mechanical problems, but I was beaten fair and square on the Interlagos track by Kimi and his Ferrari. It was no time for recriminations or complaints. I do not believe in doing that; I do not blame my team when things happen. We all win and lose together. Kimi drove superbly and won six races in all, including three out of the final four Grands Prix. He deserved his success. That is why I was quick to congratulate him at the end of the race in the parc ferm. I felt sore for myself, but I felt happy for Kimi he is a cool guy and he has been a great competitor this year.

I had just finished my rookie year at the age of 22. I knew I had a future in Formula One and, with reasonable luck, plenty more opportunities to win the World Championship. I had no doubt about that. It had been a fantastic season and instead of feeling down, or in any kind of pain, I felt we had a lot to celebrate and enjoy. I felt proud of the way the team had come through a sometimes stormy, controversial year and I felt proud, too, of my family and all my friends and supporters who had helped me to get where I was, so close to the title in my first season. It was a day to be happy. In the end, the year was not decided by that one race in Brazil, but a whole championship season.

It was also one of the most exciting Formula One seasons ever, at least on the track. If somebody had told me a year ago that I would be fighting for the World Championship at the end of the 2007 season, I would have said they were dreaming. But that is what happened. In the end, I lost by just one point, but I proved I had the potential to be involved in more and more championship fights in the future. Nobody would have predicted that I would finish second in my first season, so there was no reason for anything but celebrations. I did my best, the team did their best and there was nothing any of us could do to change things. In all honesty, at the end, I just felt it had been a really intense, crazy year and, truly, I did not feel gutted by the outcome. It was cool. I believed and still believe in the team and the car, and I am looking ahead with real optimism.

Who would have thought I would be leading the World Championship going into the last race? Who could have imagined the crowds we had at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix? Who would have dreamt that I would go to North America and win back-to-back Grands Prix in Canada and the United States? Or win four races and start from pole position six times in 17 races?

I know it was all against me in the end, and that the final two races were bad results for me, but I plan to learn from that and to go into next year and try to improve all round. I am going to come back fitter, more relaxed and more experienced and I will have a better car and I will push harder for the championship. To think I came straight from GP2 to be ranked number two in the world is a positive thing and I know we will be strong next year. We will do a better job, for sure, the team will keep pushing and I have got the experience now and I will bank that. I cannot wait for the next race! Of course, I felt emotional afterwards in Brazil, at least a little bit. I try not to show emotions, but I cannot deny that I felt it a little when the season ended.

When I think back, there are so many great memories: my GP2 Championship, then the opportunity to test for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and those early tests at Silver-stone and at Jerez in September and October 2006. They were just a year before the title-decider in Brazil. I remember that first week of testing at Silverstone when I wore some other dudes race suit to start with, and it smelt. When I got my own, I thought it was so cool, I wanted to sleep in it! The whole journey for me, from my earliest days as part of the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz family to Formula One, has been quite emotional. And this last year has been a rollercoaster.

The test at Silverstone only a year before I flew to Japan and China for the two Grands Prix that lifted me within reach of the title and then dashed my hopes was the best week of my life at the time. I enjoyed it so much. I felt the pressure, because it was my first test, but it was so cool. I worked my way through it. The thing that really struck me, after GP2, was the downforce in the high-speed corners. I was like, Wow, this is Formula One! I want this! And then I went to Jerez to test again, and gradually, after not such a fast start, I was into it and doing the laps. I just loved that testing and it went well and, looking back now, I have only good memories.

It seems so long ago. So, too, does the day I was confirmed as Fernandos team-mate, as a race driver in the team, and all the other testing. And the launch in Valencia on 15 January earlier in the year, when we did all the razzmatazz and had those huge crowds and did the doughnuts in the streetsSo much has happened since and luckily for me, nearly all of it has been good. One of the few bad days came when I had a big accident testing the new MP4-22 at Valencia in January before the season. Fortunately for me I was unhurt, but the car was quite badly damaged and it set us back in our test programme. That accident was a shaker for me, a reminder of what these cars can do and it was a big part of my early learning experience with the team.