Mosley: Hamilton's importance exaggerated

Hamilton's debut season in Formula One shot him to fame worldwide and increased viewership for the sport in the UK. And with the retirement of Michael Schumacher, Hamilton was branded the new leading star of the sport.

But Mosley believes he could, just like Schumacher, become a negative factor for Formula One, if he goes on to dominate for an extensive amount of time.

"If he does the same thing next season as he's done this season, it will certainly have a big effect," Mosley told the BBC.

"It will start to be negative because we'll get the Schumacher effect where people start writing to me saying can't you do something to slow him down.

"He has certainly helped enormously in the UK. He's also got a lot of interest worldwide because he's come manifestly not from a rich background. He's just made it.

"[But] there is always somebody new. If it wasn't him, it would be either [Nico] Rosberg or [Robert] Kubica or one of the other new stars, a [Sebastian] Vettel, would suddenly be the big one.

"So I think there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of Lewis Hamilton."

Mosley also downplayed the possibility that Hamilton could yet win the 2007 world championship, should McLaren win their appeal against the decision of the Brazilian Grand Prix stewards on the matter of BMW Sauber and Williams.

"It could happen, absolutely, because this will go to a court of appeal, but it's very unlikely," he stated. "Even if [the judges] excluded [the BMW and Williams] cars, they are not obliged to reclassify Hamilton.

"There's absolutely no need, if they don't wish to, to change the position that Hamilton was in."