F1 2016 Official Review

Few drivers have entered Formula One racing with as big a bang as Lewis Hamilton, whose sensational maiden season in 2007 - in which he lost out on the world championship by a single point - remains one of the most remarkable rookie campaigns in history. In the intervening period the supremely gifted British driver has won two world championships and established himself as one of the most complete drivers on the grid: a terrific qualifier, a tenacious racer and a fierce wheel-to-wheel combatant with a deadly eye for an overtake. Put simply, when it comes to driving a Formula One car, there are very few areas in which Hamilton does not excel. Hamilton attributes much of his success to his humble upbringing in Stevenage, the English town in which he began racing as a hobby. Winning came naturally to the young driver and soon he was cutting his teeth in national events. By the age of 10 - with a little less than two years’ experience - he was crowned the youngest-ever winner of the British Cadet Kart championship. Equipped with an assured racing style that belied his years, it wasn’t long before Hamilton’s trophy cabinet was groaning under the weight of more karting titles. Hamilton made sure that Ron Dennis was one of the first to notice his swift rise through the ranks and in 1998 the McLaren boss signed the Englishman to the team’s young driver programme. Indeed, Dennis’s belief in Hamilton’s talents was such that the contract even included an option on the 13 year-old should he ever make it into Formula One racing.

Max Emilian Verstappen (born 30 September 1997) is a Dutch-Belgian racing driver and a Four-time Formula One World Champion. He competes under the Dutch flag in Formula One with Red Bull Racing. He's been racing in F1 since 2015.

Sergio "Checo" Pérez (born 26 January 1990) is a Mexican racing driver. He competes under the Mexican flag in Formula One with Red Bull Racing. He's been racing in F1 since 2011.

Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver. He has won the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship twice in 2005 and 2006, the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2019, the 2018 and 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona. He was also runner-up in Formula 1 in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and took a third-place finish in 2007. In Formula 1, he has competed for Minardi, Renault (in which he was a two-time world champion), McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari, this being his team from 2010 to 2014, year in which he left Ferrari to return to McLaren from 2015 until 2018. After two years away from F1, he returned with Alpine F1 Team in 2021, and has since moved to Aston Martin from 2023 onwards.