Lewis Hamilton drove for McLaren when he won his first Formula One World Championship.
Hamilton secured the 2008 Drivers’ Championship in only his second full Formula One season. He won five races for McLaren and finished the year just one point ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. The title was decided at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Hamilton’s late recovery to fifth place gave him the championship on the final lap.
Hamilton joined McLaren’s young-driver programme as a child and became the team’s Formula One race driver in 2007. He narrowly missed the title in his debut season, losing to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by a single point. The following year, McLaren’s MP4-23 gave him the platform to become the sport’s then-youngest world champion.
The usual confusion comes from Hamilton’s later dominance with Mercedes. He won six of his subsequent seven championships with Mercedes, but his breakthrough title came with McLaren, alongside teammate Heikki Kovalainen.