Lewis Hamilton was back at what looks like becoming a home away from home yesterday, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where he assured his adoring public that he is doing his level best to secure a World Championship that looked to be his destiny last season.

This time last year, when Hamilton made his first celebrity appearance at this motor racing nostalgia-fest in the grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex, few who waited patiently for him in the rain did not believe that he would be world champion by the end of his rookie season in Formula One.

Although events conspired to deny him that title, the belief among his followers - who waited for him in the sunshine this time - is that he will do it this year and an older and wiser Hamilton was not going to disabuse them of their dream.

“I'm not going to build up your hopes but just to let you know that I'm working as hard as I can to bring the championship home for all of us - keep your fingers crossed,” he said after driving last year's McLaren Mercedes MP4/22 up Goodwood's 1.1-mile hillside track.

The young British racer flew in from his apartment in Geneva - private jet to Southampton, then helicopter to the stately home at the foot of the South Downs - for an annual event that he and his family used to attend as ordinary punters. Last year, having just won back-to-back races in Montreal and Indianapolis, he seemed a little embarrassed when presented to the crowds by the Earl of March and Kinrara on the balcony.

Twelve months on, with his victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone the talk of the paddock under the trees, Hamilton lapped it up as Lord March led a mass toast with scores of Hamilton's fans downing a glass of bubbly in honour of a performance ten days ago that has gone down as one of the great wet-weather drives.

“What a fantastic win in the British Grand Prix - 68 seconds (his margin of victory) - Lewis Hamilton!” bellowed his host. Interviewed by Chris Evans, the radio DJ and selfconfessed petrol-head, Hamilton worked the crowd like an old pro, making sure that his comments were addressed as much to those who waited for him as the ever-present television camera.

He joked about how he would need to throw a few “dummy moves” to overtake himself if “Lewis Hamilton” was his opponent and he revealed that pre-race nerves are still a big challenge at every grand prix, something he has kept very much to himself over the past 18 months.

“I've been racing since I was eight years old and every Sunday before the race I always have the same nerves and I can never control it,” he said. “I always try to come up with a formula or a way to deal with all the nerves and the race to make sure I win and it's always difficult.

“There is always something different happening; it could be raining or dry, you are always starting from a different position and there is always a different crowd and a different vibe. So it's all about trying to take it all in and do the best job I can.”

A few autographs later and Hamilton was in the car he drove last year, wheel-spinning it and sliding it up a hill that is too short and without the necessary safety equipment for Formula One cars to race on at speed. So, with the machine roaring like an elephant on heat, Hamilton got it twitching this way and that as he touched the power, achieving speeds of all of 50mph and waving to the crowd as he did so.

Among the crowd was Nick Faldo, the six-time golfing major champion who believes that Hamilton will go all the way and could do it this year. “We know what motor racing's like - anything can happen to a driver or a constructor - but, inside, he knows he's got it and he's got inner patience as well,” Faldo said. “He knows that one day he is going to make it.”