Hamilton struggles to be popular | 2008 race-by-race | Hamilton in his own words | Graphic: the thrilling finish | Do you believe in the conspiracy theories?

As the legends of the sport queued to acknowledge Lewis Hamilton's achievement in becoming the youngest world champion in Formula One history, many predicted that he will go on to become a multiple winner. There were even forecasts that Hamilton, 23, could beat Michael Schumacher's record haul of seven championships. Is this fanciful or a realistic possibility?

The rookie genius

Hamilton made the motorsport world sit up and take notice with a record-breaking start to his rookie season last year. He compiled nine consecutive podium finishes to begin his Formula One career. It was during this run of consistent world-class performances that comparisons to Ayrton Senna, his hero, and other champions began to be made.

Can Hamilton eclipse Schumacher?

Briton has taken his first world title and some believe he could now go on to overhaul the record of the legendary German

• Hatred almost made us give it all up, says Lewis Hamilton's father

• Lewis Hamilton just happy to live the dream

• Eddie Jordan brands Lewis Hamilton 'lucky' as team pulls off tactical gamble

Cheers and boos for Britain's new champ

He is on top of the world but the "aloof" Formula One champion is struggling to win over large sections of the sporting public

• After the glitz of São Paulo, Lewis Hamilton does lap of honour in Stevenage

• Lewis Hamilton and McLaren admit to crossed signals on dramatic last laps

• Winning formula

Multimedia

• Can Britain learn to love Hamilton?

• Can Hamilton be as good as Schumacher?

Related Links

• Hatred almost made us give it all up

• Hamilton just happy to live the dream

• Hamilton 'lucky' says ex-F1 boss

Multimedia

• Lewis Hamilton in pictures

The erratic record

Hamilton has since displayed a pattern of inconsistency, mixing victories with finishes in the points but off the podium, and races in which he has failed to score or finish. The cool temperament he showed in those early races has given way to bouts of hot-headedness and overconfidence.
Taken together, the two phases of his career suggest that it is too early to predict how he will develop. Is the real Hamilton the driver who follows a magical performance when winning in the wet at Silverstone by crashing into the back of a rival in the pitlane in Montreal? Or will Hamilton, like Schumacher, be able to produce one immaculate performance after another?

The first-championship bounce

The view among those who have repeatedly scaled the Formula One heights is that the first championship is the toughest, much as the first major is for golfers. Former champions such as Niki Lauda and Sir Jackie Stewart believe that Hamilton will have learnt how to win from the experience of Interlagos on Sunday and, indeed, losing out last year. Now he knows how to do it, his confidence will grow and he will become more formidable.

The car

A reliable and fast car is critical to Hamilton's success in the coming years. Last year and this, the McLaren MP4/22 and MP4/23 have been on a par with the best that Ferrari could muster, but before Hamilton's title the team had not won a drivers' World Championship since Mika Hakkinen's second title in 1999. Next year's cars are going to be very different as new technical regulations come into force.

Many of the less successful teams view this as an opportunity to catch up. McLaren and Ferrari should remain at or near the front of the grid, but snapping at their heels are likely to be a rejuvenated Renault, BMW Sauber, who are making steady progress, and possibly Toyota or even Honda. In the long term, should McLaren lose their edge and Hamilton finds himself in consistently inferior machinery, there are few in the paddock who doubt he will move to a team - which may be Ferrari - who can provide what he needs.

Rivals on the grid

If Hamilton is going to win multiple titles he is going to have to beat his team-mate and the best of the rest. After shocking Fernando Alonso with his pace last season, Hamilton has - to some extent with the assistance of his team - easily outperformed Heikki Kovalainen this year. Outside McLaren there are potent threats at Ferrari, where Felipe Massa will be looking to cement his unexpected position as No1 driver, and Kimi Raikkonen, Massa's team-mate, could return to form with a vengeance next season. Alonso is arguably the most complete driver on the grid and Renault are improving.

Other threats come from Robert Kubica, the Polish BMW Sauber driver, and Sebastian Vettel, the 21-year-old German prodigy, who moves from Toro Rosso to Red Bull next season. Vettel could be the danger in the long term, but his big problem is likely to be that his car will not be good enough to threaten Hamilton.

The character of the man

Hamilton's life has gone through an unimaginable degree of change in the past two years. He has become Britain's biggest sporting superstar, he is earning about £100million over five years, he lives as a tax exile in Geneva and he is Formula One world champion. Will this change him? Will he lose his focus? Will he allow fame and wealth to erode his commitment in the car or his fitness out of it?

This looks unlikely. Hamilton is among the most grounded of individuals, who knows where he has come from, appreciates the core values that have been handed on to him by his father and understands the importance of his family.

Training on

Although Hamilton's results have gone from consistent to erratic, he believes he is learning all the time. A classic case in point was the way he came back from his impetuosity at the start of last month's Japanese Grand Prix to produce controlled drives in Shanghai and São Paulo to secure the championship. There are no worrying signs to suggest that he will not continue to learn and improve.