Autobayng News Team
Lewis Hamilton could have made his Formula 1 debut at Sauber instead of McLaren had negotiations between the two teams not fallen through.
Former Sauber team principal Peter Sauber made the revelation in an interview late last year.
Hamilton was part of McLaren’s young driver programme as he progressed through the junior driver categories. He won the former Formula 3 Euroseries in 2005 followed by the GP2 (now Formula 2) series the following year.
Speaking in late 2025, Sauber said he and McLaren’s leadership discussed Hamilton joining the team 20 years earlier. He could therefore have made his F1 debut early with Sauber in 2005, or the following year, by which time it had rebranded as BMW Sauber following its tie-up with the German car manufacturer.
Hamilton instead made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007. Sauber said the discussions fell through because he wanted a more long-term deal than McLaren were willing to agree to.
“Hardly anyone knows that around 20 years ago Lewis Hamilton almost drove for us,” Sauber told Blick. “The Briton belonged to McLaren, and they wanted to send him to Hinwil for his Formula 1 apprenticeship. So the McLaren delegation met with Lewis and his father, along with our in-house lawyer Monisha Kaltenborn and myself, at Kloten Airport.”
“The deal fell through because McLaren only wanted to loan him to us for one year – while we insisted on two.”
Sauber ran Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve in 2005. The latter left in the middle of the following season, and was replaced by Robert Kubica, while Nick Heidfeld took Massa’s place.
Hamilton came close to winning the F1 title on his debut at McLaren. He ended the season one point behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and tied with team mate Fernando Alonso.
The Sauber team has rebranded again this year following its takeover by Audi.
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