Hamilton struggles with fame game

Hamilton was mobbed and hailed by thousands of fans throughout the course of the British Grand Prix weekend as their hero was back on home soil.

"It is still a very difficult experience to get used to - I don't believe I have got used to it," remarked Hamilton.

A record Friday crowd of 42,000 watched practice, followed by an all-time Saturday best of 80,000 for qualifying when Hamilton set Silverstone alight by putting his McLaren on pole.

A sell-out of 85,000 then bathed in long-overdue summer sunshine on race day, but there was no silver lining as Hamilton came home third behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Yet the 22-year-old's remarkable run of nine successive podiums to start his debut year means he still has a 12-point lead to Alonso with eight races remaining.

As the Hamilton success story continues to unfold, the more in demand he is becoming, and the faster his celebrity status grows as he is now being snapped out and about with singers and models, while Sir Frank Williams recently described him as "superhuman".

Hamilton continued: "It's good that it's always fresh, always new and always exciting for me, and I hope that continues - but it has been tough. As for the good things I hear from people like Sir Frank Williams, and all the people in the Formula One world, it's overwhelming.

"When I came into the sport, I came here to do a solid job. There's been a lot of pressure on from day one, but there's not been that many negative comments, so I have been able to keep all this positive energy.

"It's definitely comforting to hear such nice things but having my world turned upside down......I'm very lucky I have good balance and a sense of awareness to get on with my life."