Highlights

Prospect Hamilton waits on McLaren test

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-20 09:08

Briton Lewis Hamilton will test for McLaren on Wednesday and Thursday, determined to show the Formula One team that he would be a worthy partner to world champion Fernando Alonso next year.

The 21-year-old had been due to start at Silverstone on Tuesday but that was pushed back a day due to technical reasons and damp conditions.

The team said Hamilton had carried out only a basic shakedown lap, to test the systems and radio, on Tuesday morning.

Hamilton has been a McLaren protege for more than a decade and is only a step away from becoming the first black British Formula One driver after winning the GP2 feeder series at Monza in Italy earlier this month.

Team boss Ron Dennis has said he hopes to confirm the team's line-up before the end of the year and McLaren intend to give Hamilton as much time as possible in the car before making their final decision.

McLaren have already signed Spaniard Alonso from Renault but are losing Finland's Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, the 35-year-old test driver who replaced Juan Pablo Montoya after the Colombian announced in July that he was leaving for the U.S.-based NASCAR series, is eager to retain the race drive.

De la Rosa will join Hamilton at Silverstone with the young Briton also expected to test at Jerez in Spain after next month's Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton is in no doubt that he is ready for Formula One but could be made to wait a year as a test driver before getting his opportunity in 2008.

"I have done everything I need to do to prove that I'm ready to race a Formula One car," he told reporters recently. "I need to do testing and get plenty of miles under my belt.

"Being alongside the best driver, with all that experience -- the things I can learn from Alonso would be endless. A race seat alongside him would be the best place for me.

"I feel that I'm ready to race. Racing is what I do best, so the sooner the better."