When Lewis Hamilton was credited with resurrecting Formula 1 by Bernie Ecclestone
Long before Lewis Hamilton turned out to be one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, Bernie Ecclestone credited him for bringing back F1 from the dead. Hamilton made his debut in 2007, and it was the same year when Ecclestone, the former F1 boss credited him with resurrecting the sport.
Following the conclusion of the 2006 F1 season, Michael Schumacher decided to retire from F1. The departure of a driver of his stature from the sport meant a magnanimous blow for F1, its broadcasting, and its popularity.
At the time when Ecclestone and his company were searching for the next poster boy of Formula 1, Hamilton dropped in. The brilliant young driver did wonders in the junior category and made his way to the pinnacle of motorsports.
"Lewis Hamilton has been a real breath of fresh air and has resurrected Formula One," Ecclestone said as per Autosport. "I have been in motor racing longer than I care to remember, but I have never seen anyone like him. He has been nothing short of a miracle worker."
"We lost a big hero in Michael Schumacher, but in Lewis, we have another. But for him, I'm not sure where the sport would be heading," further added the then-F1 boss during the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton debuted with McLaren alongside the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. The rookie gave Alonso, who was also the defending champion that year, a run for his money.
In his first year, the Brit was a championship contender alongside Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. However, he missed out on his first title by just a point after he had two back-to-back underwhelming outings at the 2007 Chinese and Brazilian GP.
Lewis Hamilton deserves to be greatest of all time: Mercedes boss
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton deserves to be regarded as the greatest of all time in Formula 1 with seven world titles. Hamilton lost the 2021 title to Max Verstappen, which could have been his eighth championship. Speaking about this on the High-Performance Podcast, Wolff stated:
"There's definitely a moment every week that I think about it. But I mainly think about it because I think Lewis deserved to be the greatest of all time with eight world championship titles. You can keep arguing about that year, but I think Max and Lewis were both deserving champions."
Hamilton has seven F1 world titles under his belt, and the only driver who matches his statistics is Michael Schumacher. The former is also already the most successful driver with 105 wins, 104 pole positions, and 201 podium finishes.