HAMILTON LANDS McLAREN RIDE.(Competition)

Lewis Hamilton will step up in 2007 as world champion Fernando Alonso's teammate at the McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team. Hamilton will become the first Afro-Caribbean F1 driver.

The 21-year-old Briton, already with four karting titles to his name, has been a protege of McLaren CEO Ron Dennis since he was 13. Hamilton won the 2000 European kart championship, the 2003 U.K. Formula Renault championship, the 2005 Formula 3 EuroSeries title and the 2006 GP2 crown. After taking Nico Rosberg's place in the ART Grand Prix team, he beat Nelsinho Piquet (Nelson's son) to the GP2 title by securing five wins, seven second places and two thirds from the series' 22 races.

Hamilton did not drive a McLaren until September, but he has been selected over Pedro de la Rosa, who raced for the team this year after Juan Pablo Montoya's abrupt departure. De la Rosa will revert to his previous role as McLaren's test and reserve driver. Gary Paffett, who was also under consideration for the 2007 drive, will continue to test for the team but also hopes to return to the DTM touring car series with Mercedes-Benz. Paffett won the DTM title in 2005. Meanwhile, former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen has spent time in McLaren's race simulator and is considering a consultancy role with the team, though Dennis denies that Hakkinen could return to a McLaren race seat.

Formula BWM World Final

About the only person surprised by Christian Vietoris' supremacy at the Formula BMW World Final in Spain was the 17-year-old driver himself. The German, who won from the pole, said, "I didn't think we would be so dominant from the first practice.'' He called it a "brilliant finish to a perfect weekend,'' which included the fastest lap of the race.

Vietoris drives for Josef Kaufman Racing-the leading FBMW German team. Finland's Mika Maki was awarded second after the car of Vietoris' teammate, Josef Kr l, was disqualified for a technical violation. Stefano Coletti of Monaco was third.

FBMW brought together top Formula One wannabes from Asia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States for a runoff at the 2.5-mile, 13-turn Valencia circuit to determine the best in the spec series. The winner receives a Formula One test.