The inside story of Hamilton and Vasseur’s last title win

Lewis Hamilton was the talk of the paddock during pre-season testing in Bahrain, where he officially kicked off his eagerly anticipated Ferrari adventure. But while the seven-time World Champion has been getting to know plenty of new colleagues, a new factory and a new car, not everything at the Italian marque is unfamiliar, with his former Formula 3 and GP2 team boss Frederic Vasseur steering the ship – the pair having won those junior championships together some 20 years ago. To look back on that period, and ponder what might happen in this next chapter, F1.com caught up with Hamilton’s team mate from his 2006 title-winning GP2 season, Alexandre Premat, for some special memories and insight…

Premat and Hamilton team up

It’s the winter of 2005/06 and Frenchman Premat – a Formula Renault 2.0 champion and Formula 3 Euro Series runner-up – has just finished fourth in his debut GP2 season, with ART Grand Prix team mate Nico Rosberg securing the crown and earning an F1 promotion.

British youngster Hamilton, meanwhile, has been on a similarly trophy-filled journey up the single-seater motorsport ladder, becoming champion during his second seasons of Formula Renault UK and the F3 Euro Series – remarkably scoring 17 podiums and winning 15 out of a possible 20 races in the latter.

Premat and Hamilton joined forces at ART for the 2006 GP2 season

With Premat signed on for another term via success in A1 Grand Prix, and Hamilton looking to make the next step in his career, the two F1 hopefuls are brought together under the watchful eye of Vasseur, who guided them both through F3 and co-founded the ART operation alongside Nicolas Todt, son of then-Ferrari boss Jean.

“I’ve had a strong relationship with Fred for a long time, because my dad is a very good friend of his,” explains Premat, picking up the story and providing more background on his fellow countryman.

20 YEARS ON: The inside story of Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 test with McLaren

“We also worked together for so many years, going through Formula Renault and Formula 3, winning the Macau and Zandvoort races together, and then moving to GP2 with the target of getting as close as possible to F1.

“When Lewis signed with ART for the 2006 season, I knew it was not going to be the easiest year for me. Everything that he had done in go-karts, in Formula Renault, in F3… he was the top of the top – the top driver everywhere he went. But it was also a good benchmark, to see how I would get on against him.”

Vasseur headed up the ART outfit, who contested several categories, with Nicolas Todt

Understanding Hamilton’s approach

ART’s new team mates had shared a track before, briefly during the 2002 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup championship and again in the 2004 F3 Euro Series – the year in which sophomore racer Premat finished as runner-up and debutant Hamilton placed fifth overall.

This, though, was their first time sharing a garage, data and a team boss in Vasseur.

“We initially got together as team mates during pre-season testing at Paul Ricard,” continues Premat. “I remember we had good conversations, a good way of working with the team. Lewis was doing his things, I was doing my stuff, but the team was sharing everything and trying to bring the best out of us – to build up speed, energy and synergy.

“Honestly, there was never any tension between me and Lewis, even when he was beating me! I’m very relaxed, laidback and cool, maybe too much in some ways. But I had respect for where he came from, how he did it…

“Even in GP2 at the time, he was so detailed. Everyone learned a lot from him, and he also learned also from us. The more you learn from everyone, the better you get.”

Hamilton and Premat developed a strong partnership on and off the track

Vasseur’s influence from the top

Pivotal to that way of working, learning and improving was Vasseur, who in Premat’s view perfectly balanced getting strict when required but also encouraged those around him to be the best versions of themselves and reach new heights – whether that be the drivers, engineers, mechanics or factory-based staff.

“When you see those big heads in F1 like [Mercedes boss] Toto Wolff, [McLaren boss] Zak Brown, Fred… they’re inspiring a lot of people, for sure,” Premat comments. “Fred’s hard [in his approach], and he says stuff as it is, but he’s very fair. Every human is different with the way they carry out their tasks, but Fred has a really good way of doing it.

“Fred going from F3 and GP2 to F1 with Renault, then Sauber and now Ferrari, it seems to be working out pretty well for him. From the last two years at Ferrari, there are only positive stories about him and the way he works. Although, back in 2006, I don’t think Fred would have said he would be the team boss of Ferrari today!”

With both Drivers’ and Teams’ titles to win, one smart way Vasseur brought Premat and Hamilton together during their season as team mates was by setting up a shared driving arrangement at race weekends – thanks in part to one of them not being allowed to get behind the wheel away from a circuit.

Vasseur was there for Hamilton and Premat through every race weekend

“I remember Fred asked me, ‘Alex, Lewis doesn’t have his driver’s licence, can you drive him from the hotel to the track and back?’ I said, ‘Yeah, of course!’ It wasn’t all the tracks, but I think at half the tracks I was kind of his Uber!” Premat chuckles, before touching on how his relationship with Hamilton developed as a result.

“We then had dinner together, spent more time together, and we were just thinking about doing the best we could possibly do. I also remember during one of our meals that I said to Lewis, ‘I’m sure you’re going to be in F1 one day’, and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m not sure… we’ll see’. Now he’s the greatest driver in history!”

Hamilton makes his mark

There were clear signs of that future greatness as 2006 developed, with Hamilton and Nelson Piquet Jr. – racing for the team founded by three-time F1 World Champion father Nelson – emerging as the class of the GP2 field and going head-to-head for individual glory.

For Premat, three moments stand out across a battling campaign that saw Hamilton claim five wins and 14 podiums from 21 races.

Hamilton starred throughout the season, ultimately beating Nelson Piquet Jr. to the title

“Lewis was fast for the whole season, but at one stage he stepped up,” Premat recalls. “I would say it was at the Monaco event. He won the race, was super-fast throughout, and from there you could see that he stood [taller] and was a person who could fight for the championship.

“During the next round at Silverstone, I had an issue with my clutch, which melted, so I retired from the second race and watched it in the paddock. After winning the first race, Lewis started in P8 for the second one and overtook everyone! He was going through Becketts, passing Nelson and some other guys on the outside, and I was like, ‘Wow! How can he do that?’

“I think he got another boost from that, and then we went to Turkey, where he spun early in the second race and dropped to the back of the field. He was an attacking man that day! He attacked everyone... I remember I could see him catching me so fast that I just let him by. He finished both races in second and, after that, it was a fight to the end with Nelson.”

In a tense season finale at Monza, long after ART had secured the Teams’ title, Hamilton won the Drivers’ fight by 12 points to add the GP2 trophy to his cabinet and leave long-time backers McLaren with no doubts about his potential to compete with the very best in F1.

Turkey 2006: Hamilton's incredible GP2 fight through the field

Creating an F1 legacy

The rest, as they say, is history.

Across stints at McLaren and Mercedes, and just over 350 starts to date, Hamilton has amassed a record 104 pole positions and 105 race wins, as well as a record-equalling seven world titles – making him the most successful F1 driver of all time.

As the man who raced next to him on the edge of that stardom in 2006, Premat keenly watched every step of the way.

“Everywhere Lewis has gone, he’s had the speed and shown his strength,” says Premat, who placed a respectable third in the GP2 standings with a victory and eight podiums to his name. “I don’t want to say I’m his number one fan, but I’m only following Lewis in F1. For sure, there are other really great drivers, but I’m watching what Lewis does.

“The way Lewis drives, the way he overtakes, the way he manages things, the way he speaks to people, for me he’s top of the class. When you see all the young drivers coming to F1, people say he’s old, but he has the experience and knows when to push. He knows everything about F1.”

Hamilton continued his rise after winning in GP2 and now has a host of F1 records under his belt

The next chapter at Ferrari

After such a long association with Mercedes, Hamilton shocked the F1 world last winter when it was announced that he would be swapping the Silver Arrows for Ferrari in 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz as Charles Leclerc’s team mate.

With Vasseur at the helm, Hamilton in the cockpit and another talented former ART driver in Leclerc added to the mix, it marks a full circle moment that only F1 can seem to deliver – and one Premat is particularly excited about.

“For sure, it’s been a long time since 2006, but you can still feel there’s a connection,” he says of Hamilton and Vasseur’s partnership. “I think it will bring some fire [back]. I think getting those stories back and those moments back from when they were winning together, they’ll be saying, ‘Let’s do it again!’

“It’s a rhythm and a cycle. Fred is so strong at bringing people together. As I said, he’s a cool guy, he’s fun, but he can be hard when it’s needed. It’s the same with Lewis. I think that’s going to be a power, like lightning, lighting them up – both of them, but the team also.

Vasseur and Hamilton have reunited at Ferrari for the 2025 season

1 / 2

Vasseur and Hamilton have reunited at Ferrari for the 2025 season

“I’m sure it’s already clicked. Even if it’s like 19 years ago, it will be the same. Fred knows how to speak to Lewis, and the same way in return, Lewis knows what to say to Fred, because they already had the experience in F3 and GP2. I’m just looking forward to watching the first few races, to see how it goes!”

So, how does Hamilton’s former team mate rate his chances of writing one more winning story with the most famous team in F1?

“It’s not that I’m hoping… I truly believe he can do it – Lewis is born to win,” adds Premat, who himself got close to F1 with several practice outings before focusing on a career in the German DTM touring car series and sportscars.

“I was at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last year and spent some time with Lewis, talking about various things. I have two children, 16 and 13, and every time I see him we speak about that… He’s like, ‘Oh my God, you’re a dad!’ I then remind him, ‘You have different targets. You want to win, that’s what you do’.

“I can tell you right now, I’m sure that every morning he wakes up, he goes training, his mentality is strong, and he wants to destroy everyone. I know it – I know it 100%. I think having Fred with him is going to unleash that power.”