"I couldn't quite believe it."
That's what was going through 21-year-old Lewis Hamilton's mind back in 2006 when he found out he was set to make his Formula 1 debut.
Others used words such as "nervous," "stressful," and "strange" to describe their earliest memories of the sport. The current batch of drivers have each arrived at the sport's highest level from different paths and backgrounds. But the one thing they all have in common is that, at some point, they were each newcomers who had to rise through the ranks.
We asked various drivers at the Canadian Grand Prix to recall either their first surreal memory of the sport or their "welcome to F1" moment.
Note: Some answers were lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Carlos Sainz (Williams): "I remember like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old and I went to my first ever grand prix in Barcelona. I saw my heroes (Michael) Schumacher, (Fernando) Alonso, (Kimi) Raikkonen. I met Flavio (Briatore). I remember coming back from that weekend saying, 'I want to be an F1 driver.' It was V10s, I was scared. It was the first time I felt scared about an engine roaring in my ear when it was turned on. That's what made me fall in love with the sport."
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): "My moment was Monza 2006. I had just won the GP2 championship. Kimi (Raikkonen) was on pole, and I had the privilege of going onto the grid. I was standing in front of Kimi's car, and (former McLaren boss) Ron (Dennis) put his arm around me, looking up to Turn 1, and he says, 'I'm going to give you a chance.' That was the moment.
"I couldn't quite believe it. I didn't know what it was going to be a chance at. That's what I was thinking when I left. But obviously that was the moment that he had decided that he was going to give me a chance for 2007."
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): "My craziest moment has to be Melbourne. It was my first race in F1 and then Lap 1 was pretty nuts. I wasn't expecting to be running P3 at one point, racing side by side with Lewis, someone I've sort of looked up to for a long time. Honestly, my emotions in that moment, it's hard to describe. There was a big sort of lag. I think it was only sort of the start of Lap 2 or the middle (when) I'd figured out what had actually just happened. That was pretty nuts."
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): "The very first one I remember was Barcelona in 2018 with Fernando (Alonso). There's not that many battles I remember - I don't have a very good memory normally. I had a fight with Fernando, and Fernando was always a driver I had looked at growing up, and that was a very strange feeling. I once played against Fernando on PlayStation, and then you actually fight with him on the real track. That was probably the first moment where I was like, 'OK, that's really cool.'"
Lando Norris (McLaren): "The first ever F1 race I went to was in 2017, when I actually joined McLaren. You would have thought, as a racing lover and Formula 1 fan, I would have been to a race prior to that. I got the full experience of being with McLaren on a junior program back then. I was racing in Formula 3, and it was Silverstone, so it was a full shebang. That was one of the coolest days of my life because it was my first real welcome to the world of Formula 1.
"But also, my first day testing in a Formula 1 car was that first true experience. We were actually just looking upstairs at pictures of me in 2011 for some reason - and also my first day testing in Hungary in 2017. Just thinking how things have changed. I work with the same guys, Will (Joseph) and Jon (Malvern). So, it was cool to look back on those memories."
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): "My first test in Williams. Waking up the following morning and trying to get out of my bed, and my neck was stuck. That was my first F1 memory. So, I won the European F3 and then it was Nurburgring and then the next Monday I got a seat fit in the Williams and then I tested on the Tuesday. I remember Wednesday, I just couldn't get out of bed. My neck was just destroyed."
Ollie Bearman (Haas): "That first free practice that I did, which was Mexico 2023. That was the first time that I really went on track in Formula 1. That first time with everybody else was a chance to compare myself, and I was quite happy with how I performed. That also gave me a bit of confidence. Without that, I think I would have struggled to then go into that first race in Jeddah a few months later because, having done that free practice, I knew actually I had what it takes to drive an F1 car."
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): "When Frank Williams told me that I'm going to be racing for Williams. That hit me pretty hard, like, that's 'Welcome to F1.' It feels still like yesterday."
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): "The craziest moment was the first race in Australia, and then the first win in China. A lot of emotions going through. Obviously, Australia was different because it was my first race, so I was just a bit nervous and very excited to get going. China was very strong in terms of emotion because I achieved one of my big dreams. To finally do that was an incredible accomplishment for me and the team. It was a very special moment that I will remember forever."
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): "My debut season is always the most shocking one. You really feel the difference between all the categories and Formula 1. The level of attention - media attention - that you get off track, events that you need to do. The car itself is just a little bit faster. It's the big brother of the previous car you drove. But the rest of the things in Formula 1 that are not behind the wheel is a little intimidating."
Nico Hulkenberg (Audi): "My first test in F1 ever, which was 20 years ago in Jerez for Williams. I came from F3, and obviously to jump into a Formula 1 car, it was just insane. The speed, the power, the forces - I was overwhelmed by everything."
Max Verstappen (Red Bull): "When I walked up to Spa in 2014 (after being announced as a Toro Rosso driver for 2015). Just being in the paddock, seeing so many people."
Franco Colapinto (Alpine): "The first race. The first time I got in the paddock and then second race, scoring points, Q3. It was very quick. I didn't have a lot of time to settle when I came for the first time with Williams because it happened Wednesday and then on the Friday, I was already in the car. It was very little time to realize what was happening. That was quite surreal."
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): "It was Zandvoort (in 2023). It was a very stressful weekend. It was Practice 3 in the wet. A car and track I had never driven together. It was a very hard weekend. To be honest, not super enjoyable, but that was my 'welcome to F1' moment."
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): "Going to the first race (of this season) was surreal for me to be representing such a big brand as Audi. First time we hit Australia on track and already to go to Q3, score points. For me, that was surreal. I don't think anyone in the paddock expected us to be straight away that good. I think I put that moment as one of the highlights."
Daniel Valente is theScore's lead Formula 1 writer. Follow him on X at @F1GuyDan.
