Hamilton proves a real inspiration

Those were the beliefs expressed today by Hamilton's father Anthony, who could hardly contain his pride at the way in which the 23-year-old McLaren driver bounced back from adversity to claim one of the greatest victories seen at Silverstone.

Hamilton had gone into the ninth round of the world championship smarting from points-costing mistakes in Canada, where he had rammed the stationary Ferrari of title holder Kimi Raikkonen after failing to spot a red traffic light at the end of the pit lane, and in France where he was penalised for cutting a chicane.

There was also growing criticism of his private life in which his apparent pursuit of A-list celebrity status was said to be distracting him from a Formula One career only in it's second season.

Yet another kerb-hopping error in qualifying on Saturday, which meant Hamilton lined up for his home race back in fourth place on the grid, added to the growing pressure.

His response was breathtaking in it's execution. From the moment Mark Webber's Red Bull moved to the left at the start, leaving Hamilton with a clear run to the first corner where he almost stole the lead from team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, his driving on tarmac made treacherous by sweeping rain storms was a league above that of any of his rivals.

The more experienced Raikkonen spun twice. His Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, who had led the title chase coming to Silverstone, pirouetted five times. Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica was among those whose cars slipped or skidded into gravel traps.

And all the while, despite a misting visor that meant he was often driving nearly blind at close on 200mph, Hamilton maintained such an incredible pace that by the chequered flag he was
68.58secs ahead of second-placed Nick Heidfeld and had lapped everyone up to Rubens Barrichello in third.

Anthony Hamilton joined a sell-out crowd of 90,000 in giving his son a standing ovation as he crossed the finishing line trailing a giant rooster-tail of spray. Then he insisted the electrifying performance was the perfect response to those who had questioned Lewis's focus.

He said: "Lewis does his talking on the circuit, and in this race it spoke volumes. It put everything into context and I'm just overwhelmed. Phenomenal. That's what he is. It is great for the British public, great for Silverstone and great for Formula One. But also I think it's great for all those little kids looking up to Lewis thinking 'I want to be like you'.

"I hope we've launched a lot of careers. I hope Lewis has inspired young kids to keep on the straight and narrow.

"And for all those families going through stress, grief and all that kind of stuff, it shows there are some good things that happen in life. Here we've a good guy who is living that kind of life. We need some good people in this world, and I think we have one in Lewis."

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's chief executive agreed. He said: "Last year was the start of the phenomena and inevitably people - fans, the media - built Lewis up.

"Going into this year he'd achieved superstar status, and if someone like that trips or stumbles then people want to jump on it. None of us has experienced that as personally as Lewis has. None of us could possibly understand the sort of pressure he's been under.

"This race will have taken all of those things out of his mind. It was an astonishing performance. Now he's back as joint leader of the world championship and he knows he's got momentum."

He also has family whose belief in his talent and abilities behind the steering wheel has never wavered. Indeed, there was a touching moment yesterday when the first person an elated Hamilton hugged after climbing from his car was his younger brother Nicholas.

Hamilton revealed how Nicholas, who has cerebral palsy, paid him a visit in his room on the morning of the Grand Prix when rain was already falling.

He recalled: "Nic sat there and I said 'I just hope I keep it on the track'. And he said 'don't you even worry about that. You're the master in the wet'.

"I just said 'thank you for that'. He's always there, so is my whole family. My dad's always on the grid. He would never miss a race, and he's been there from day one. We still do the same handshake as we always did from the first race I ever entered, and that means a lot to me."

Maybe, in the course of 60 of the toughest laps he's ever likely to complete, Hamilton grew up a little. In a quiet moment away from the popping of champagne corks, he offered a quote from Martin Luther King.

"I can't remember it word for word," he said, "but he was saying something like: it is not the times where we triumph and are successful that make us who we are, but it is the times where we are at our lows and we are going through our troubles that really build us and create us and make us who we are."

His dad is right. Lewis Hamilton is an inspiration.