Williams praises 'superhuman' Hamilton

Hamilton is the first F1 driver to take a podium finish in his first three races, and his second place at Bahrain has turned him into a genuine title contender as he moved into the joint lead of the world championship with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Now Williams, who has close hand knowledge of dealing with rookie hype after he took on Jenson Button in 2000, believes that Hamilton can already be put in the same bracket as Michael Schumacher in terms of a force in F1.

"I thought after we got rid of Michael, 'now we've got a chance again.' But then another superhuman turns up," said Williams. "Michael was many things, but he was also a very, very simple human.

"Hamilton is a different character I think, but purely in terms of calibre or quality of skill, what I'm seeing so early in this man's career is remarkable."

Although some viewed the dominance that Schumacher achieved at times of his career as bad for the sport, Williams thinks that Hamilton is great news for F1 - as he serves to increase its popularity.

"Hamilton is still a baby, so to speak, but dishing out loads of trouble already," said Williams. "I mean that in the nicest possible way. I cry he's not in a Williams but I rejoice for F1. I really do."

Even the more cynical observers, who did not instantly praise Hamilton at the start of the season, now believe they have seen enough to be convinced about how good he is.

Scuderia Toro Rosso owner Gerhard Berger admitted he had doubts about Hamilton's hunger for success because his career had been backed all the way by McLaren. But he is sure now that the youngster is the real deal.

"I have to congratulate McLaren because I had doubts about him before," the Austrian said. "From karting onwards, when you have everything, you don't know how to fight for it.

"So I wasn't sure about him - but now I have to say he's very impressive. He seems to be a nice guy, very clean - it's a win-win situation for Lewis and McLaren.

"He is not just somebody just coming in and being quick. You can see he's using the car, using his own potential to the maximum but never going off.

"He's looking to Alonso to learn, and you never see him over-driving the car. When the camera is on him, he always looks in control. And he looks like a guy with a lot of brains."

McLaren have worked hard to try and keep expectations on Hamilton in check, amid fears that if he was too hyped he could be heavily criticised for the inevitable rookie mistakes.

But team boss Ron Dennis now thinks that Hamilton has done enough not to face much criticism if he does get things wrong in the future.

"He is at that point now that he has got enough brownie points in his pocket where he can lose some without getting some severe criticism," Dennis stated.