McLaren. Since 2007 its seemed as if the Lewis Hamilton-McLaren relationship has shaped this combination into one big Formula One team sized family. And this is evident, especially through Martin Whitmarsh's words: "We want Hamilton and he wants us"
Lewis has been associated with McLaren and Mercedes since the age of 13, being signed to their "Young Driver Support Programme" It's as if this has tied him to the team for life, as he has even stated that he wants to stay with the team for the rest of his career, even though he has implied otherwise as of recently.
When Jenson came along in 2010, so many pundits predicted a fierce rivalry echoing that of Alonso and Lewis in 2007. But Jenson only further amalgamated the team, creating a strong partnership determined to bring home the constructors Championship but still fight for the individual driver's crown. That's what makes the duo and team as a whole so strong.
McLaren's performance in Melbourne is a testament to this family like relationship. No other team has the unity and team determination to completely overhaul their cars and become competitive within roughly 2 weeks after a very poor winter testing period. This shows how both sides of the garage can work together to find the pace where needed.
Another showing sign of the team's unity is their actual pit garage lay out. Both driver's and all engineers sit in the middle of the garage and share information to adapt each car's set up to squeeze out every tenth. This is an innovative lay out and allows each side of the garage to formulate and collate a strong race package for sunday.
You can't help but think the entire team is held so close together like a family. Lewis and Jenson are always aiding each other in trying to reach the top and haven't yet reached a kink in the relationship just as Sebastian and Mark Webber have. Hopefully McLaren's unity will yield them further success this year as they lead the charge to beat Red Bull Renault.
Credit: The F1 Times (www.thef1times.com)
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