3 F1 dream partnerships(feat. Lewis Hamilton) that turned out to be nightmares

Lewis Hamilton will be teamed up with Charles Leclerc this season at Ferrari, a driver lineup everybody will have a keen eye on. In terms of potential, this might be the best driver lineup on the grid.

On one side, you have a 7-time world champion, who is an icon of the sport, while on the other, you have one of the brightest talents on the F1 grid. Combine this, and you have a driver lineup that could dominate the field in the right car.

A Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc partnership is arguably a dream partnership of sorts, but there have been cases in the sport when the 'dream' partnership turned into a nightmare. Let's take a look.

#1. Lewis Hamilton-Fernando Alonso (2007 F1 season)

Arguably, the last time something like this happened was in 2007 when a fresh-faced young rookie named Lewis Hamilton made his debut against the reigning two-time world champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren. Looking back, there were far too many detractors who weren't exactly sure why Ron Dennis made up his mind to give this young Brit a seat on his team in his rookie season.

Well, the reality behind it was much different. It didn't take long for Hamilton to show how good he was as he secured a podium in his first race for McLaren. Not only that, the driver showed great poise throughout his debut race.

As the season continued, Hamilton grew from strength to strength, and Alonso, who was hired by McLaren on the premise of being the team's No. 1 driver, started questioning the status quo. As fate would have it, the Spaniard clashed with the team, and then there were a few moments between the two on the track as well.

As a result, while the two drivers continued to take points off each other, it cost McLaren the title. By the time the chequered flag fell on the 2007 F1 season, it was the Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, who led the championship by one point over Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

The partnership ended at the end of the season as Fernando Alonso moved to Renault while Lewis Hamilton continued to stay with McLaren and won the title with the team in 2008. In essence, Ron Dennis arguably had two of the best drivers on the grid in his team, and somehow the mismanagement cost him the title.

#2. Alain Prost-Ayrton Senna (1988-89 F1 season)

Before the Fernando Alonso-Lewis Hamilton saga, Ron Dennis had already faced something similar with the Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost rivalry at McLaren in 1988. As is often told, Prost suggested to Dennis that he should hire Senna, a young Brazilian who had made his name for being breathtaking in qualifying and ruthless in races.

This was the era when McLaren was one of the more dominant teams on the grid, and the driver who was behind the wheel of the "MP4" cars was more or less going to win. At the time, Alain Prost was often termed the benchmark of the F1 grid, with other highly rated drivers like Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Nelson Piquet considered to be a rung behind.

When Ron Dennis did make up his mind on signing Ayrton Senna, it meant that McLaren had a dream lineup of two of the best drivers on the grid. Little did the team and the onlookers know that it was going to turn into a nightmare.

Senna's headstrong, all-or-nothing approach, coupled with his breathtaking talent, meant he was going to be a handful for Prost, who was more of a technician who calculated everything when it came to a race weekend.

The two drivers butted heads in 1988, but things were more or less cordial. Moving into 1989, the tensions were turned up a notch, and it all culminated with the two drivers colliding in Suzuka, ultimately deciding the championship.

#3. Nelson Piquet-Nigel Mansell (Williams, 1986-87 F1 season)

By the time Nelson Piquet joined Williams in 1986, he was already a 2-time world champion and knew how to build a team around him and execute a championship campaign. He moved to the Frank Williams-owned squad intending to be the team leader. Being teamed up with a bright young Nigel Mansell meant that the squad was looking at a super team with which it could dominate the season.

In what was a cultural shock for the Brazilian, he faced stiff resistance from teammate Mansell, who was younger and arguably quicker than him. The two fell out very early in the partnership in 1986, and this helped Alain Prost to creep in and clinch the title in his McLaren.

The 1987 season was the ultimate breaking point for the relationship, as Piquet already negotiated an exit at the end of the year and clawed his way to the title. In what should have ideally been two years of ruthless dominance for Williams, it became a case study on how not to comprise your driver lineup when you have a car capable of fighting for the title.