"Next year he will sit in an F1 car"Ron Dennis has reinforced suggestions that McLaren protégé Lewis Hamilton will make his Grand Prix debut in 2007.
''Next year he will sit in a Formula One car,'' the team principal was quoted as saying by Kicker.
Dennis explained:
''And if he is not in one of our cars, then he will be at another team for a year.''
21-year-old Hamilton, who - although British - would be the first racer with a Caribbean background in F1, is a standout of GP2 this year. But some regard the prospect of a debut alongside
Fernando Alonso at top-team McLaren as too big a step.
Dennis rejects the thesis that Hamilton's unique marketing potential, for example in attracting new sponsors, is not a factor.
He explained: ''We have had many sponsor offers relating to his skin colour over the years but we rejected them all.''
But McLaren's 'F1 CEO' Martin Whitmarsh also admitted that 'it is possible' that Hamilton will be wearing a silver suit on the 2006 grid.
But he suggested that the team is also spoiled for choice. ''We have Alonso.
We are still hopeful of keeping
Kimi Raikkonen and then we also have Montoya, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett,'' he added.
Whitmarsh admitted that a team like McLaren 'must be very, very careful' about putting too much pressure on a rookie like Hamilton too soon.
The original plan was to, in Red Bull (Toro Rosso) or Honda (Super Aguri)-like style, open up a couple of 'junior' seats at which to place rising talent like Hamilton.
But Whitmarsh suggests that the 'Direxiv' concept, with Jean Alesi at the helm, is still on track, irrespective of whether spending $48m on the new-team bond is required, or whether McLaren-Mercedes might purchase 'an existing team'.
Source GMM CAPSIS International
