F1: Top 5 Rookie Drivers of All-time

#1 Lewis Hamilton, 2007

Lewis Hamilton won his first race in Canada, and the sky was the limit from there.

Lewis Hamilton's first season in Formula 1 is statistically the best of any driver in the history of the sport. No man has ever won the driver's world championship in their first season, but Lewis came the closest, missing out by just a single point in the end.

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso joined McLaren for 2007 and was partnered by Hamilton, who had been a junior driver at the team since he was a teenager. Hamilton began the season with 9 straight podiums (a record) and led the championship after Spain (Round 4) at the age of just 22 (another record).

During that season, he'd also set the record for the most pole positions in a debut season (6), most wins in a debut season (4) and the most points in an opening season (109), the latter still standing despite the points restructuring in 2010.

His victory in torrential rain at the Japanese Grand Prix in superb style appeared to have all but won the title with two rounds remaining. However, a rookie error at the Chinese Grand Prix had put Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and his Alonso in with an outside shot of snatching the title in Brazil, which Kimi ended up doing.

A mechanical error (his only of the campaign) ruined his chances of winning the title. Heartbreak for Hamilton, ecstasy for Raikkonen, but the young Brit didn't have much longer to wait, as he'd get redemption the following year by becoming the youngest ever world champion (at the time). And the rest? Well, you know the rest.

Who do you think is the best rookie in F1's history? Let us know in the comments below!