Lewis Hamilton revisits Budapest one year on from his infamous pit-lane disagreement with his then McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso. At that time Lewis was a confident rookie determined not to play second fiddle. Today he heads to the starting grid as leader of the world championship, looking for his third consecutive victory - and clear leader of the McLaren Mercedes-Benz team. Hamilton’s refusal to comply with team procedures last year inadvertently triggered an extraordinary chain of events that saw Alonso being released from the team, which found itself $100m poorer at the end of the season. Replacing Alonso was Heikki Kovalainen, who has just been granted a one-year extension to his McLaren contract for 2009.

The Finn is the perfect teammate for Hamilton: fast enough to contribute and keep him on his toes, but not yet quick enough to give him too many race-long headaches. That point was proved in qualifying yesterday when Hamilton took a comfortable pole position and Kovalainen was fast enough to make it an all-McLaren front row, further demoting Ferrari. Felipe Massa leads the Ferrari challenge, a fraction shy of Kovalainen but well clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who starts sixth, having struggled for the second consecutive race to make sense of his car’s set-up. Given that Raikkonen is a key title rival, it almost appears as if the sea may be parting in front of Hamilton, especially as it appears BMW have gone off the boil. Toyota look every bit as quick as the BMWs here, with their man Timo Glock recovering well from his Hockenheim accident to line up fifth. Circuit specialist Alonso has qualified his Renault well, just behind Raikkonen.

Setting aside Hamilton’s moment of madness in the Montreal pit lane, when he crashed into Raikkonen, he has been the dominant force since Monaco in May and could easily be leading by far more than four points. A win today would be his fifth of the season. His victory in Germany, coming after the team had made a wrong tactical call that left him fighting hard to win a race that had been in the bag, will have reinforced his confidence. His overtaking of Massa should become a textbook case study for young drivers; his finesse on the limit of grip was sublime. He has the full armoury and McLaren appear to be more proactive in developing the current car than any other team.

Looking at the next four races, Hamilton is the favourite here in Budapest (a race he won last year), on the new fast street layout of Valencia and for the high kerbs and speeds of Monza; although maybe not at Spa, where Ferrari are always strong. Hamilton could have the back of the championship fight broken before he heads off to the Far East races. Now it is Kovalainen’s job to take as many points as possible off Ferrari and thereby aid Hamilton’s title chances.

Ferrari are under pressure. Raikkonen has put in too many lacklustre weekends of late. Massa remains a circuit specialist, superb one weekend, not a factor the next. There appears to be less of the iron fist rule of the Jean Todt era, and even some evidence of internal finger-pointing. The other difficulty they face is choosing which of their drivers is the title aspirant; three points separate them and there seems to be no pattern as to which is quicker on any given weekend. They are just as likely to take points from each other as from McLaren.

Ferrari has become a more open and outwardly happy team this season. Stefano Domenicali, Todt’s replacement, is admired in the paddock, but I suspect he will have to become less popular to galva-nise the team. Some onlookers mutter about a crisis, but all the basic ingredients are intact at Ferrari. They’ll need to be, to fight off Hamilton and McLaren.

Last week a new team association emerged, Fota, led by Ferrari’s Luca Di Montezemolo, in which every team is a member. Fota has held talks with Bernie Ecclestone and the commercial rights-hold-er, CVC, about Formula One’s future, trying to agree on a new contract and direction. Imagine all the conflicting interests in that process. These are powerful, wealthy, competitive and successful men, each looking to maximise his position against the rest, all approaching from different angles according to their circumstances.

Ecclestone and CVC will be looking to maximise their revenue in parcelling off this financial giant. The teams will be looking to maximise their slice of revenue so that they can spend it on beating each other. They also want to protect their advantages, at the same time minimising other teams’ advantages. By nature they are incapable of acting in any way other than competitive self-interest. I will be impressed, and relieved, if they come up with an exciting, cohesive and innovative blueprint.

Many of the stakeholders are in their 60s and 70s, yet they are determining the direction of a sport that needs to engage the next generation. Having teenagers of my own and watching how they and their friends communicate, relate to technology, absorb information and are entertained interactively and on demand by many other interests, I hope these powerbrokers address the real future of the sport.

F1 must look forward, not inward. Is the priority sport, business, technological showcase, green issues or a high-speed billboard and car showroom? In my view it is sport, sport and sport in the top three. Everything else must and will follow. We love to count the TV viewers, the crowds, the column inches, the website hits, the T-shirt sales and the marketing awareness. If we don’t do this as a total priority for the fans, then let’s lock the gates, race on a Wednesday afternoon and let the teams have the weekends with their families.