In 2007 Hamilton could have made his debut with Sauber.

      In 2007 Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut, becoming Fernando Alonso's teammate at McLaren, and nearly won the title, finishing level on points with the two‑time world champion and losing by just one point to champion Kimi Räikkönen.

      But the story could have been very different. In an interview with Blick, Peter Sauber said that Lewis almost made his debut with his team…

      Peter Sauber: "Few people know that about twenty years ago Lewis Hamilton nearly became a Sauber driver.

      McLaren wanted him to spend his debut season with us so he could gain experience. A McLaren delegation, together with Lewis and his father, met with me and our in‑house lawyer Monisha Kaltenborn at Kloten airport near Zurich.

      We didn't reach an agreement then because McLaren wanted to let us have him for one season, while we were counting on two."