“I was accused of ruining Lewis Hamilton's career": When former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh opened up on management issues with F1 legend

In 2020, former McLaren F1 boss Martin Whitmarsh recalled the time when he was accused of ruining a young Lewis Hamilton's career. He wanted the youngster to stay and compete in F3 for another year in 2004. The Briton also revealed how he tore up Hamilton's contract after the driver and his father, Anthony, did not agree with his advice.

Lewis Hamilton had made waves within the UK Karting scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed up to the McLaren junior program, and Martin Whitmarsh had an influence on his career at the time, in his capacity as managing director at McLaren.

While speaking to the BBC about Hamilton in 2020, Whitmarsh recalled a fascinating incident that occurred in 2003 when he and Hamilton had different ideas about how they wanted to progress the young Briton's career.

Whitmarsh wanted Hamilton to race in the Formula 3 Euro Series for another year, after the driver had finished fifth in the 2004 edition of the series. This led to a "huge row" between him and Anthony Hamilton, who felt his son (and client) should be promoted to GP2 (now known as Formula 2) already.

"We had a huge row. I was accused of ruining his career by holding him back in F3. By that time, Lewis was getting a bit of traction and his father felt there were other options," recalled Whitmarsh.

"In the end, I took the contract out and tore it up. I freed them. I said, 'I don’t want you here under duress. We want to work with you. This is what I really want you to do. If you don’t want to do it...'" he added.

Whitmarsh then added that Hamilton called him after six weeks, and the two parties ended up signing a contract together.

Hamilton then dominated the F3 Euro Series in 2005, winning the title, having won 15 out of the 20 races. He was subsequently promoted to GP2 in 2006, which he also won.

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"I was so lucky": What Martin Whitmarsh said about tearing up Lewis Hamilton's McLaren contract in 2004

Lewis Hamilton with Martin Whitmarsh at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Speaking during the same interview in 2020, Martin Whitmarsh remarked he was "lucky" that Lewis Hamilton came back to sign with McLaren after he tore up his contract in 2004.

Whitmarsh claimed that he would forever be known as the man responsible for letting go of Hamilton if things had turned out a little bit differently.

"I look back now and think, 'I could have been the person who tore Lewis Hamilton’s contract up and never got him back.' I was so lucky, really," said Whitmarsh, via the aforementioned source.

Whitmarsh and McLaren never held Hamilton back after 2004, though, as he gained direct promotions into GP2 in 2006 and then F1 in 2007. The driver even nearly won the F1 championship in his rookie year, having missed out by just a point to Kimi Raikkonen amid a fierce teammate battle with Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton didn't take long to correct this, getting over the line in 2008, to claim what was the first of his seven world championships to date.