Damon Hill, the last British Formula One world champion, believes that Lewis Hamilton's chances of winning the title this year could be harmed by the off-track pressures on McLaren Mercedes caused by the long-running McLaren-Ferrari espionage scandal.

The 1996 world champion thinks that Hamilton is in excellent shape to produce another impressive performance in his second season in Formula One but is concerned that Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen, the defending world champion, have an advantage over him because of the spy case.

“I would love to think that it would simply be a matter of straight competition this season, but you have to take account of the background issues,” Hill told The Times. “That's what I feel and I'm not alone. A lot of people feel that about this sport and I think it needs to be cleared up.”

Hill argues that there is still enough going on in the background - most notably the Italian police investigation into McLaren's alleged theft of Ferrari intellectual property - to cause the sort of distraction that he believes derailed the team and Hamilton last season. “My heart sinks a little bit when you talk about the championship this year,” he said. “I am aware, and a lot of people are aware, that there is a great deal of pressure on McLaren and that affects their ability to compete. It affected their ability to compete last year and it affected their championship result.”

Hill is one of a number of influential voices who does not accept that the treatment of McLaren by the FIA, the sport's governing body, has been fair, which the FIA itself strenuously denies. “I don't see it as being evenhanded,” he said. “I think that McLaren has been singled out.”

The spy case apart, Hill's view is that Ferrari and McLaren will be closely matched and he believes that Hamilton's confidence will have been boosted by his record-breaking debut last year. “At the beginning of the season last year, Lewis was not really sure how it would play out, whereas this year he will go into the season knowing that he can run at the front and win grands prix,” Hill said.

“The flip side of that is he has created very high expectations and anything less and he's a loser. It's a case of 'welcome to the sharp end - in this game there is only one winner'. But he knows that. Lewis is tough and I think he won't disappoint us.”