Hamilton: The new kid on the block who is an old hand at things

By Peter Auf der Heyde Mar 17, 2007, 19:50 GMT

Melbourne - Long after all the other drivers had left the Albert Park race track in Melbourne after Saturday's qualifying for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was still there.

The 22-year-old McLaren-Mercedes driver stayed so long not only because he was one of the most-sought after interview partners for the world's press, he was also the darling of hundreds of fans who had waited for hours to catch a glimpse of their hero.

And Hamilton did not disappoint them, signing each and every autograph he was asked for and posing for photographs with adoring fans - many of them young females for whom the good-looking Briton always seemed to have a special smile.

That fans have their favourites and the press chase interviews is, of course, nothing new, but given the fact that the Stevenage-born youngster had not yet raced in a single Grand Prix does make it somewhat unusual - a fact that has not escaped Hamilton.

After he had achieved the best placing for a Briton in his debut qualifying session for more than 50 years by taking fourth place on the grid, Hamilton was asked if he had expected things to be as they were.

'I am not surprised how things were in the car and on the track, but I had not expected the hype surrounding the whole event to be so big,' he said.

His fourth place was not the only time during the first two racing-days that he achieved impressive results - twice beating his team-mate and the reigning world champion Fernando Alonso in the free practise sessions.

The danger of Hamilton lifting off after achieving such excellent results seem small as he showed a maturity belying his age in one of the press conferences.

When an over-eager scribe asked him whether he was disappointed finishing fourth, he said that he was not disappointed at all. 'I know my limitations and being fourth is more than I could have dreamt of. I am very, very happy.'

His father Anthony though said that even if his son was happy to have achieved fourth place, there was still a psychological barrier to overcome. 'Being fourth is being a place away from the podium and you will always feel that you need to improve to finish on the podium. To start in third, on the other hand, means that you go into the race knowing that you need only to keep your place to get a podium finish. That does make a difference.'

But anybody betting against Hamilton achieving his first podium finish this season would be foolish. After all, he has from an early age shown a determination that is the trademark of most champions.

As a young boy, he went up to Ron Dennis, who is now his McLaren team principal and told him that one day he wanted to become a Grand Prix driver.

The story goes that Dennis told him that he should phone him in a few years once he had developed further, but that two years before the deadline Dennis phoned Hamilton and told him he no longer had to wait as he would take him under contract.

After signing with the McLaren Driver Development Support programme, Hamilton's career moved ahead at rocket speed. After success in karting, he won the British Formula Renault series in 2003, the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2005 and the GP2 last year.

When Kimi Raikkonen moved to Ferrari to take over from the retired Michael Schumacher, Dennis opted to offer Hamilton a chance to drive at the highest level.

Former McLaren driver David Coulthard though, has warned that Hamilton's career could quite easily suffer a set-back before it even begins properly. 'I believe McLaren have given him his break way too soon,' he is quoted in the News of the World.

'The first person you are compared to is your team-mate and if Lewis struggles alongside Alonso it could destroy his confidence. Alonso may be new to McLaren but he is a double world champion. There is no doubting his (Lewis') potential. But he needs time to develop - not just as a driver, but also as a man,' Coulthard said.

But Hamilton could just well be what the sport needs. Having gone into the season without its greatest drawcard in retired Michael Schumacher the young Briton could well be what Tiger Woods was for golf when he started out.

The parallels are there: Just like Woods, he is young, good looking, articulate and of mixed race - his father's parents having immigrated from the Caribbean island of Grenada to Britain.

With other words, he is highly marketable.

He earlier told English journalist that he had no problems with becoming a role-model for others wanting to join Formula One.

'Hopefully it can encourage other ethnic groups to get involved in the sport. It doesn't have to be just for one group of people, it can be for everyone,' he said.