HISTORICAL: Lewis Hamilton's incredible 2007 rookie season
Lewis Hamilton has always been a racing prodigy. Back in 1998 the McLaren Driver Development Programme (or the McLaren-Mercedes Young Driver Support Programme at the time) recognised this and signed him, at the age of 13. Hamilton had famously introduced himself to McLaren boss Ron Dennis at an awards ceremony in 1995 by showing him his karting trophy and proclaiming that he wanted to race his cars someday. Maybe his forward approach did the trick as his subsequent signing at the age of 13 made him the youngest person (at the time) to receive a multi-year backing deal from a F1 team. This long term backing paved the way for his eventual F1 graduation in 2007, and his maiden title in 2008.