Hamilton, Direxiv, still on F1 track
"I have said it a few times," he said. “We have been very active and supportive of Lewis.
“We are continuing to help and support him, he is concentrating on the GP2 season, and we want him to carry on concentrating on that.
"I think Lewis is a fantastic talent, I am sure he is going to be in F1 and he deserves to be in F1.
“Gary [Paffett] is also a very, very talented driver, and I feel in some ways sorry that he has been in some extent eclipsed by circumstance, because he is doing a very, very good job for us in testing and he is good enough to be an F1 race driver.
"With Gary and Lewis, then they both deserve to be racing in Formula One in the next couple of years. That could be next year for both of them in other cars."
Whitmarsh also stressed that Juan Pablo Montoya’s first lap collision with Kimi Raikkonen would not affect whether he stays with the Woking-squad next season or not.
06/29/06 (GMM) Ron Dennis has reinforced suggestions that McLaren protégé Lewis Hamilton will make his grand prix debut in 2007.
''Next year he will sit in a formula one car,'' the team principal was quoted as saying by 'Kicker'.
Dennis explained: ''And if he is not in one of our cars, then he will be at another team for a year.''
21-year-old Hamilton, who – although British – would be the first racer with a Caribbean background in F1, is a standout of GP2 this year. But some regard the prospect of a debut alongside Fernando Alonso at top-team McLaren as too big a step.
Dennis rejects the thesis that Hamilton's unique marketing potential, for example in attracting new sponsors, is not a factor.
He explained: ''We have had many sponsor offers relating to his skin colour over the years but we rejected them all.''
But McLaren's 'F1 CEO' Martin Whitmarsh also admitted that 'it is possible' that Hamilton will be wearing a silver suit on the 2006 grid.
But he suggested that the team is also spoiled for choice. ''We have Alonso. We are still hopeful of keeping Kimi Raikkonen and then we also have Montoya, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett,'' he added.
Whitmarsh admitted that a team like McLaren 'must be very, very careful' about putting too much pressure on a rookie like Hamilton too soon.
The original plan was to, in Red Bull (Toro Rosso) or Honda (Super Aguri)-like style, open up a couple of 'junior' seats at which to place rising talent like Hamilton.
But Whitmarsh suggests that the 'Direxiv' concept, with Jean Alesi at the helm, is still on track, irrespective of whether spending $48m on the new-team bond is required, or whether McLaren-Mercedes might purchase 'an existing team'.