Lewis Hamilton reveals how McLaren 'fight' sparked major change

Lewis Hamilton has reflected on why "arguing" his corner at McLaren during his rookie F1 season helped hold him in good stead for his career ahead.

The now-Ferrari driver explained that he had to "fight" for parity with Fernando Alonso, something that turned the tide early in his maiden campaign.

He highlighted over the Canadian Grand Prix weekend that back in 2007, it was customary for a team to run its two drivers with slightly different fuel loads during the final stage of qualifying.

Musing that most teams must have alternated between which of its two drivers carried slightly more fuel during Q3, the 40-year-old shared how because Alonso was the reigning F1 drivers' champion, he always got the preferential treatment, leaving Hamilton with "at least" a tenth-of-a-second pace disadvantage over one lap.

However, after the fifth round of the season, in Monaco, he fought his corner. It opened the door for him to clinch pole position at the subsequent round at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he went on to claim his first grand prix victory.

It was also part of a run of nine-consecutive podium finishes to start his time in F1.

"Obviously, my grand prix win [in 2007] was pretty epic," the seven-time F1 drivers' champion told media including RacingNews365.

"I was just talking to my engineers – we just watched the qualifying from 2007, or my lap, for example.

"That was the race where… back then with refuelling, the two cars were often separated by a couple of laps of fuel. One car would get the lighter fuel and I’m sure in some teams it alternated.

"And because Fernando was the world champion, he’d always get the lighter fuel. I was often carrying at least a tenth of fuel every time we went into qualifying – until this race."

Hamilton detailed how he secured "equal opportunity" with Alonso and what it meant for him moving forward. Later in the season, tensions between the pair would reach an apex in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

That was one of the flashpoints that not only lead to Kimi Raikkonen snatching away the 2007 drivers' title from the pair, but also McLaren being caught for the Spygate affair.

Alonso would leave the Woking-based squad at the end of 2007, returning to Renault, where he had won his two drivers' crowns the two prior years.

"I remember arguing after Monaco that I wanted equal opportunity and equal chance, and they gave us equal fuel," Hamilton said.

"Then I out-qualified him and won the race. It was one of those moments where you really have to listen to your intuition and fight for what you feel is right – and that was one of those high moments for me."