The inside story of Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 test

Lewis Hamilton's very first Formula 1 test with McLaren at Silverstone on December 1, 2004, has been revisited ahead of his 400th Grand Prix start. Fellow British driver Alex Lloyd recalled testing the Adrian Newey-designed McLaren MP4-19 alongside Hamilton and Jamie Green in cold, dry conditions. Hamilton approached his debut outing steadily across two brief ten-minute sessions, matching Lloyd's unofficial lap times while Green set slightly faster times.

While Green moved to DTM and Lloyd pursued a career in American open-wheel racing, Hamilton progressed through the Formula 3 Euro Series and GP2. Hamilton debuted for McLaren in 2007 alongside Fernando Alonso, eventually earning seven World Championships before moving on to Mercedes and later Ferrari.