This time last year it all seemed so easy for Lewis Hamilton, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. It's easy to forget now that 12 months ago we were impressed when he was within sight of team-mate Fernando Alonso in qualifying, and before long, of course, he was doing rather better than that.
It's ironic that his flying start in Grand Prix racing means that he is inevitably being judged against the standards he achieved last year. He is no longer the rookie underdog, and instead he is many people's title favourite, the man to be shot at and whose every error will inevitably attract a negative focus. He's feeling the pressure, all that sort of thing.
Bahrain was his own worst nightmare come to life. A huge practice crash was followed by finger trouble on the grid that wasted his respectable qualifying position.