There has been much head-scratching about Lewis Hamilton in the Formula One paddock over the past couple of days as people try to assess just how well he will do in his second season in Formula One. After a record-breaking debut last year, during which he posted nine podium finishes in his first nine races and missed out on a world title in his rookie year by a point, there are many who believe that he will not match it this year.

Hence the widespread favouritism conferred on Kimi Raikkonen, of Ferrari, who has the momentum of an unexpected championship win, a highly competitive car and a team who have not had to deal with investigations into their activities by the FIA and Italian police.

Six of Hamilton's rivals were asked yesterday for their tip for the title. Five of them, Sébastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault), Timo Glock (Toyota), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) backed Raikkonen, with only one, Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes team-mate, tipping the Briton.

One man who does not share the scepticism about Hamilton is Niki Lauda, one of Formula One's great champions, who is in Australia. “What he did last year was outstanding because he did it without experience in Formula One and he coped until the end in just a very positive way and nobody ever did this before,” the triple world champion from Austria said. “But in the end he screwed up twice, in China and then Brazil, but in a way this was the best thing for a young kid in a first season because you learn from your mistakes.”