A homecoming party

There was a buzz around the McLaren Technology Centre on Wednesday morning. The reason? The triumphant return of Lewis Hamilton to the men and women that helped him become Formula One's youngest world champion in such dramatic circumstances at the weekend.

Around 1500 bodies assembled on the ground floor of the the MTC, and you could sense the buzz about the place. Lewis would not be there for half an hour, but with a world champion among their own for the first time in nine years - you could forgive the stay-at-home heroes for being a little giddy.

The atmosphere began to build along with the size of the crowd, as the minutes ticked by to Hamilton's arrival. This, as team boss Ron Dennis later pointed out, was one of the few occasions during the year that the 1000 or so employees of McLaren were allowed to leave their desks, lathes and workstations for a couple of hours. An opportunity to bask in the glory that their most famous colleague had recently bestowed upon them.

Appearing first, and without fuss from an unassuming side entrance, was Lewis's father Anthony and stepmother Linda, plus girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. None are officially McLaren staff, but all showed just how much a part of the team they have become this season by donning the trademark day-glo T-shirts in tandem with the rest of the workers, to create a sea of rocket red along the floor and in the gangways elevated above the ground.

Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh were there too, but attired in smart suits rather than the day-glo shirts. Ron looked content. After all, today is a good day. No penalties, fines or sudden rainshowers are going to get in the way of the celebrations.

Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh address the team at the McLaren Technology Centre © LAT

Nevertheless, despite this being a celebration, an event away from the track, you get the sense that the same precision planning has been put into Hamilton's welcome home party as goes into every race meeting and test. How very McLaren.

The whole place buzzed as ITV's Steve Rider warmed up the crowd with tales from Brazil and the season, but this is all just a peripheral part of the proceedings. There is one man for whom everyone is waiting.

And then he appeared, driving his MP4-23 along the thin paved strip that surrounds the MTC's lake, being careful not to put it in the water just feet to his right hand side (just as on Sunday at Interlagos!). He parks up just outside two massive sliding doors and exits the car, giving a quick thumbs-up to the onlookers in the process.

What happened next was a clear case of deja-vu after the drama of the Brazilian weekend, as Lewis struggled, again, to replace his steering wheel - much to the amusement of the McLaren staff, who drowned his efforts in ironic cheers while he finally got the wheel attached.

The chanting of 'Lew-iss, Lew-iss, Lew-iss' was more in keeping with a crowd at Old Trafford than the MTC, but, as he paused for photos with the 22 trophies he has amassed from his 35 grand prix starts, the cheers kept ringing out.

It had a profound effect on the world champion. He should be used to this, but somehow this adoration was different to the kind he normally receives across the world. This was the realisation that by passing Timo Glock on the last lap in Sao Paulo, he had rewarded each and every one of the McLaren team with the sort of pride that only the knowledge that you are the best in the world at your chosen discipline can bring.

"I'm shaking like a leaf," were his first, tentative words. "I've just never experienced anything like this before. My heart is racing. I've never seen all of you in one place like this before. It's pretty awesome."

If this were a politician, you would say they had been well-trained in PR, that they know how to work a crowd. But this was different. This was 100 per cent genuine. Lewis is, after all, a 23-year-old man who still relies on the guidance of his father and his mentor on a daily basis. He is a man who has been part of this McLaren family for more than ten years, a man who is only now finally beginning to realise what a monumental feat he has just achieved.

Lewis Hamilton mingles with the McLaren staff © LAT

A decade of wandering around McLaren HQ has clearly given Hamilton an understanding of the sheer number of people pulling together in what Dennis described as "the embodiment of the word: team." And just how hard they had worked to give him that title-winning car.

He acknowledged this throughout with unprompted thank yous peppering his sentences during a press conference to which the whole team was invited. He then became the most popular man in the room (if he wasn't already) by declaring to the whole team: "You all deserve a holiday".

His world title clearly means just as much to the model makers, the CFD experts, the canteen workers at the MTC - all of whom have had a hand in McLaren's success this year - as it does to Hamilton himself. The cameras that flashed were indicators that everyone here wanted to preserve this moment - and that of a visit by a Pussycat Doll - in picture.

Of course Ron and Martin went up on stage to add their congratulations to their staff, but the pair spent most of the morning blending seamlessly into the background, as if they were far further down the chain of command than reality would have you know.

It may be Ron's team, but this, undoubtedly, was Lewis's day. And if the lure of Hamilton's dream road car, a McLaren F1 LM as a reward for winning three world titles is anything to go by, we haven't seen the last of these.