In his first season in Formula One, Hamilton partnered defending double World Champion Fernando Alonso who had joined McLaren after leaving Renault. Hamilton impressed during his debut race in Australia, overtaking Alonso into turn one and twice taking the race lead. Hamilton was ahead of his teammate for most of the race, but strategy enabled Alonso to take second place at the final round of pitstops. "Strategy favoured a little bit Fernando" said Dennis, shortly after the race. Hamilton eventually finished third, becoming the first driver since Jacques Villeneuve to finish on the podium in his debut race. Triple World Champion Niki Lauda, hailed Hamilton as the best rookie he had ever seen At the next two rounds in Bahrain and Barcelona, Hamilton finished second behind Felipe Massa to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship, to become the youngest driver ever to lead the World Championship. After finishing second behind Alonso at Monaco, Hamilton suggested he was prevented from racing his teammate, but the FIA cleared McLaren following an investigation. After the race, McLaren team principal Ron Dennis admitted that the result was predetermined by the team, that due to the risk of a safety car, it was decided to sacrifice Hamilton's strategy. "You actually have to decide in advance which driver will win the race" Dennis said about the team's decision. Hamilton achieved both his first pole position and first victory of his Formula One career in the . A week later Hamilton won the , becoming the first Briton since John Watson in 1983 to win a Formula One race in the US.