On this day in 2006, McLaren set history in motion when it announced that it would promote its 21-year-old rookie and protégé Lewis Hamilton to F1 in 2007. The reigning GP2 champion - who had joined McLaren's young driver programme at 13 - was set to become the first black driver to compete in F1, a "dream come true" achievement for the young man from Stevenage. McLaren boss Ron Dennis downplayed expectations in the short term however, insisting that promoting Hamilton to race alongside two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was a gamble. "Statistically, Lewis is going to find it tough in the first few races of his Grand Prix career," Dennis said. "You only have...
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