Dennis: Hamilton the best driver in F1

That is the view of his team boss Ron Dennis, who claims that what Hamilton has managed to achieve in his short F1 career, allied to his approach to the job, makes him stand out against his rivals.

"It amuses me to see these evaluations of drivers because for me you have to take into consideration how long a driver has been in Formula One when you evaluate his performance," he said.

"For no other reason that puts him top of the heap, he is the best in Formula One at the moment. Take into account how little experience he has had, that's the bit that gives him the edge.

"It doesn't mean to say he is particularly quicker than the others, or he has dominated, it's just you have to take how long they have been involved in the sport as one of the values."

Dennis believes Hamilton is a much-improved driver from the one who let the title slip through his fingers at the end of 2007.

"Lewis is stronger now than a year ago, more experienced, more developed," explained Dennis. "With all drivers, only a fool doesn't realise, irrespective of age, you learn something every day.

"It is no different for a racing driver because they spend their whole life driving a racing car and they are going to learn more and more. With all drivers in Formula One, they are on a very steep learning curve, and the longer they are in it, the steeper it becomes.

"I wouldn't surprised if Lewis has won more races to grands prix at his age. I doubt there has ever been a driver who has won eight of his first 29 races. How can you criticise him? And what he is driving is immaterial."