Exactly 19 years ago today, on November 24, 2006, Ron Dennis made what would become one of the most consequential decisions in F1 history.
The McLaren boss confirmed 21-year-old Lewis Hamilton as Fernando Alonso's team-mate for the 2007 season.
It was a bold gamble on untested talent that would reshape the championship's landscape for nearly two decades.
At the time, Dennis's expectations were measured and realistic. "Statistically, Lewis is going to find it tough in the first few races of his Grand Prix career," the McLaren chief stated following the announcement.
"You only have to look at the first few races of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher to realise that unless he is something really exceptional, and that I doubt because they are two really exceptional drivers, you can't expect, and nor do we expect, immediate performance."
How spectacularly wrong Dennis would prove to be.
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A rookie rewriting the rulebook
From the moment Hamilton took to the Melbourne grid in Albert Park, it became clear that statistics and historical precedent meant nothing to the young Briton.
Third place on his debut was just the beginning of a remarkable opening campaign that defied every expectation.
Hamilton followed his Australian podium with second-place finishes in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain and Monaco.
By the time the circus reached North America, he had achieved nine consecutive podium finishes from his debut, a feat no rookie had ever accomplished.
His first victory came at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, followed immediately by a triumph at the United States Grand Prix.
By season's end, Hamilton had secured four wins and accumulated 109 points, finishing just one point behind championship winner Kimi Raikkonen.
Far from finding it "tough in the first few races," Hamilton had led the championship for five months and came agonisingly close to becoming the first rookie champion since Giuseppe Farina in 1950 — a statistical technicality, as it was the first season of the championship.
The making of a champion
The decision to promote Hamilton hadn't been taken lightly. The announcement marked the pinnacle of an 11-year relationship that began with a handshake between the teenage karter and Dennis at the Autosport Awards.
"We looked at the grid and felt that, aside from the top three, most drivers had stagnated," Dennis reflected on the choice.
"I am distinctly unimpressed with the majority of the current F1 drivers, and I believe Lewis is well-prepared to handle those who fall into that category."
For Hamilton, the moment of confirmation was almost dreamlike. "It felt surreal. I was sitting on a couch across from Ron at his home when he told me McLaren had chosen me as their new driver," he later recalled.
"It didn't fully sink in; I kept a professional face. I could see Ron's excitement, and he said I should feel it too."
Though the decision had been made after Monza in late September, McLaren kept it under wraps until the November announcement, maintaining one of the paddock's best-kept secrets.
The legacy of a gamble
Hamilton's confirmation would prove to be one of Dennis's finest decisions. In 2008, the young Briton delivered McLaren's first drivers' championship since Mika Häkkinen in 1999, dramatically clinching the title at the final corner of the final race in Brazil.
That victory would also mark McLaren's last drivers' world championship to date. Across his six seasons with the Woking-based team, Hamilton secured 21 grand prix victories.
Today, as Hamilton struggles through a new chapter with Ferrari at the age of 40, the magnitude of that November 2006 decision becomes even clearer. The seven-time world champion has accumulated 105 career victories, with 84 coming during his dominant Mercedes period.
His achievements with the Silver Arrows included breaking multiple records: most wins with a single constructor, most podiums with one team, and extending his streak of consecutive seasons with at least one victory to 15 years.
What Dennis perhaps couldn't have foreseen was that his "exceptional" rookie would not just match the early struggles of Senna and Schumacher, but would eclipse both in terms of statistical achievements while becoming the sport's most successful driver in terms of race victories.
The handshake at the Autosport Awards had promised much. The confirmation on November 24, 2006, delivered everything and more.
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