Did Williams miss a chance to sign Lewis Hamilton in 1994?

“La la la la, I’m not listening to you, la la la la…”

Lewis Hamilton has been tied to McLaren since he was a nipper, but it might not always have been that way. Patrick Head, Williams’ Sgt. Major-in-chief, revealed earlier this year that his team had the chance to sign Hamilton when he was racing in F3, but BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen said he was not interested in the young Brit. Oops. Good judgment call Mario!

That’s almost up there with Decca not signing The Beatles, or the Portland Trail Blazers passing on Michael Jordan. Except… did it actually happen the way Head described? Theissen has come out this week and rubbished Head’s version of events: “There was no serious opportunity,” Theissen said about the Hamilton situation. “We had loose talks, but it was always clear that he was a McLaren protege. So I never followed it any further.”

Well he would say that, no? Who would want to be known as the man who turned down the opportunity to sign Lewis Hamilton?

[Autosport]