Long-term McLaren and Mercedes-Benz protégé Lewis Hamilton has been confirmed as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes racing driver and will make his debut at the opening round of the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship in Australia.

21-year-old Lewis will join World Champion Fernando Alonso racing the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 during the 2007 season with both Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett continuing as test drivers.

The 2006 GP2 Champion, who also dominated the 2005 F3 Euro Series in a Dallara Mercedes winning 15 out of 20 races, will recommence his testing programme and the team’s preparations for the 2007 season next week at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Lewis has been involved with the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz Young Driver Support Programme since its inception in 1998. He moved through the ranks of karting winning various Championships including the 'McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future' karting series in 1998.

Lewis dominated the 2003 British Formula Renault Championship winning 10 out of the Championship's 15 races. In 2004 Lewis competed in the prominent Formula 3 Euro series with Manor Motorsport, powered by Mercedes-Benz engines.

In 2005, Lewis dominated the F3 Euro Series Championship, in a car powered by Mercedes- Benz. 
On 8th September 2006 Lewis won the GP2 Series Championship with the ART team at Monza in Italy, winning five out of 22 rounds, and on Wednesday 13th September Lewis tested the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car for the first time at the Silverstone circuit in the UK.

"It's a dream come true," said Lewis. "To be racing in Formula 1 with McLaren has been the ultimate goal for me since I was very young and this opportunity is a fantastic way to end what has been the best year for me. I have grown up with McLaren and Mercedes and wouldn't be where I am today without their continued support and guidance. However I'm aware that this will be a challenge and I know that there will be a lot of attention on me. However the team has told me just to relax, do the best I can and enjoy the opportunity. I will work hard to get good results."

Pedro de la Rosa will revert to his role as test driver for the team. Pedro has been racing for Team McLaren Mercedes since the 2006 French Grand Prix in July and achieved a number of points-scoring performances as well as a podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"I have really enjoyed the opportunity to race for Team McLaren Mercedes for the last eight races of the 2006 season," commented Pedro. "However I have always been aware that the team might decide to give another driver the same opportunity, so the fact that Lewis will be in the car comes as no surprise. Obviously I would have preferred to race myself but also understand why the team has decided to put Lewis in the car. I wish him all the best and look forward to continue working with him."

Gary Paffett will continue in his role with the team working on the test and engineering programme alongside Lewis, Fernando and Pedro. "I am delighted to be remaining with the team, it is a fantastic racing organisation and I am looking forward to working with my fellow teammates on our 2007 Championship challenge," "As with any driver, there is always a desire to be racing in Formula 1, however this was not possible. We had a number of other opportunities available and have decided that this was the strongest option. I would like to congratulate Lewis on today’s announcement."

"Since 1998 Lewis has formed an important part of our long-term strategy and we are pleased that we are able to help him take another step and achieve his dream of becoming a Formula 1 racing driver," said Ron Dennis, Chairman and CEO, McLaren Group. "Pedro has done an outstanding job for us this season but we felt it was the right time to provide Lewis with this opportunity. It's obviously going to be the biggest challenge of Lewis's career so far but it's one that we are sure he will be able to meet. He is coming into the paddock for the first time as a Formula 1 racing driver and will have to familiarise himself with the pressures of a Grand Prix weekend. However the confidence we have in Lewis's abilities and talent is clear from our decision to give him the chance."

Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport commented : "Lewis is a gifted driver who proved his talent with two consecutive title wins - 2005 in the Formula 3 Euro Series in a Dallara Mercedes and this year in the GP2 Series. McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have supported Lewis already for nine years. He was half as tall as he is today when he started in karting. It's clear that Lewis has less experience in comparison to the other 21 Formula 1 drivers in Grand Prix cars. However extensive tests during the coming months will prepare him for his first season - I am very glad that a guy like him gets his deserved chance."

Team                                                    Drivers
                                                           
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes              Fernando Alonso & Lewis Hamilton
ING Reanult F1 Team                          Giancarlo Fisichella & Heikki Kovalainen
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro                    Felipe Massa & Kimi Raikkonen
Honda Racing F1 Team                        Jenson Button & Rubens Barrichello
BMW Sauber F1 Team                        Nick Heidfeld & Robert Kubica
Panasonic Toyota Racing                      Ralf Schumacher & Jarno Trulli       
Red Bull Racing                                    David Coulthard & Mark Webber
AT&T WilliamsF1 Team                      Nico Rosberg & Alexander Wurz
Scuderia Torro Rosso                          Vitantonio Liuzzi* & Scott Speed*
Spyker F1 Team                                  Christijan Albers & TBA*
Super Aguri F1                                    Takuma Sato & Anthony Davidson

* To be announced / confirmed

provisional calendar

Round    Name    Circuit    Date
1    Australia ING Australian Grand Prix    Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit    18 March
2    Malaysia Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix    Sepang International Circuit    8 April
3    Bahrain Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix    Bahrain International Circuit    15 April
4    Spain Spanish Grand Prix    Circuit de Catalunya    13 May
5    Monaco Monaco Grand Prix    Circuit de Monaco    27 May
6    Canada Canadian Grand Prix    Circuit Gilles Villeneuve    10 June
7    United States United States Grand Prix    Indianapolis Motor Speedway    17 June
8    France French Grand Prix    Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours    1 July
9    United Kingdom British Grand Prix    Silverstone Circuit    8 July
10    Germany German Grand Prix    Nürburgring    22 July
11    Hungary Hungarian Grand Prix    Hungaroring    5 August
12    Turkey Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix    Istanbul Park    26 August
13    Italy Italian Grand Prix    Autodromo Nazionale Monza    9 September
14    Belgium Belgian Grand Prix    Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps    16 September
15    Japan Fuji TV Japanese Grand Prix    Fuji Speedway    30 September
16    People's Republic of China Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix    Shanghai International Circuit    7 October
17    Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix    Autódromo José Carlos Pace    21 Octobe

Jenson Button is to skip next week's first test of the winter, to avoid aggravating a minor rib injury he recently picked up in a kart test.

The Briton is currently returning from a Honda promotional event that took place at Motegi on Thursday, and will head home to Monaco rather than down to Barcelona for the first test of the winter.

A statement issued by his Honda Racing team on Friday said: "He recently sustained two hairline cracks to his ribs whilst participating in a karting test scheduled as part of his winter preparation. As a result, Jenson will not take part in next week's test to ensure that the condition is not further aggravated."

Button's absence means that newly recruited test driver Christian Klien will get his first experience of Honda Racing machinery. The Austrian will drive alongside Rubens Barrichello and test driver James Rossiter.

Formula One roared back into action on Tuesday at the Barcelona circuit, where nine of the eleven Grand Prix teams began their winter testing programmes.

With all the teams using Bridgestone tyres, Ferrari showed their experience will count next season, with Felipe Massa topping the times for the Italian squad.

Test driver Luca Badoer posted the third fastest time of the day.

McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa, however, followed Brazilian Massa closely, less than three tenths of a second behind in his team's maiden test with the Japanese tyres.

De la Rosa worked alongside Briton Lewis Hamilton, who managed 63 laps on his way to the sixth fastest time of the day. Hamilton caused an early red flag when his car stopped on track with an engine mapping issue.

The BMW-Sauber team continued to show good form, with German Nick Heidfeld fourth fastest also in the German squad's first taste of the Bridgestone rubber. Teammate Robert Kubica was seventh quickest in the second F1.06.

Honda, Renault, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and Super Aguri also completed their first day of work with their new tyres following Michelin's exit.

Briton Anthony Davidson made his debut with the Super Aguri team, driving an interim car, appearing very similar to last year's Honda RA106. Davidson was 11th fastest.

There were only two red flags during the day, the first caused by Hamilton and the second by Kubica when his car stopped on the main straight at around 4pm.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
1.  Massa         Ferrari                   1:17.160   52
2.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes          1:17.455   68
3.  Badoer        Ferrari                   1:17.555   77
4.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber                1:17.651   62
5.  Barrichello   Honda                     1:17.932   82
6.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes          1:18.239   63
7.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber                1:18.519   46
8.  Rossiter      Honda                     1:18.678   85
9.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota           1:18.691   94
10.  Piquet        Renault                   1:18.852   93
11.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda         1:19.112   93
12.  Kovalainen    Renault                   1:19.187   93
13.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth       1:19.216   78
14.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth       1:19.380   66
15.  Webber        Red Bull-Ferrari          1:19.439   45
16.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari          1:19.692   75

Distance covered   Km    Laps
Renault            860.6  186
Honda              772.7  167
Toro Rosso         666.3  144
McLaren Mercedes   606.1  131
Ferrari            583.0  126
ReBull Racing      555.2  120
BMW Sauber         499.7  108
Williams           434.9   94
Super Aguri        430.3   93

All Timing Unofficial