Debate: Can Hamilton be as good as Schumacher? I Can Britain learn to love Hamilton?

The most powerful man in Formula One called on Lewis Hamilton's detractors to give the world champion a break yesterday and to recognise him for what he is - “a young man doing his best”. Bernie Ecclestone, who was at Interlagos on Sunday to watch the 23-year-old Englishman win the title in a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix, said people were wrong to see the McLaren Mercedes driver as arrogant.

“Hamilton is a young man doing his best and I get upset with people who say he is an arrogant bastard and all this nonsense,” Ecclestone told The Times. “Lewis has achieved an awful lot and it would be bloody difficult for any of us to be the same as him. And yet there are so many people out there that want him to lose, so he has to make sure he delivers.”

Ecclestone believes that Hamilton is attracting the same sort of hostility once reserved for Michael Schumacher, the seven-times world champion, even if it is coming from different parts of the motor racing world. The Formula One commercial rights-holder warned Hamilton to be careful. “I think he comes over as a bit overconfident but don't forget they said the same things about Michael,” he said. “I am sure he will grow into the position he has achieved; it just takes time. He has to be careful what he says and how he presents himself, otherwise there are no fears.”

The finish in Brazil, where the championship was settled in Hamilton's favour at the end of the last lap, was a commercial dream for Ecclestone, who could not have written a better script for the annual climax of his business. “I always say I don't care who wins as long as it's settled on the last corner of the last lap and that's what happened,” he said.

Ecclestone was dismissive of the belief in some quarters that the final stages were fixed and that Hamilton was able to snatch the fifth place he needed by overtaking Timo Glock only because the Toyota driver was involved in a conspiracy with McLaren, something the German has denied. “I would think the likelihood of Glock being in league with McLaren is about zero, but you can never say 'no way', can you, because you never know.”

Hamilton will not be formally crowned world champion until an official prize-giving in Monaco early next month. In the meantime, however, Ecclestone has enjoyed winding up Ron Dennis, the McLaren team principal, about a recent inspection of Hamilton's engine by the FIA that could, theoretically, throw up an irregularity that in turn could affect the championship. “I told Ron, 'Only you know if there's anything wrong with the engine and, if there isn't, you have got nothing to worry about and, if there is, then you had better start worrying,'” he said.

On the question of the future of the British Grand Prix, Ecclestone was adamant that the race will be cancelled after next year if Donington Park, which has the contract in place of Silverstone, is not ready in time. Whether Hamilton is world champion or not is irrelevant. “Even if Lewis is world champion, we will simply say we will get on with the calendar and that England won't be included,” Ecclestone said.

Hamilton is expected to return in triumph this morning to the sleek and futuristic McLaren headquarters outside Woking in Surrey, where the entire workforce will turn out to greet their hero after enjoying a lavish champagne and fireworks party last night. Hamilton who arrived back in Britain yesterday, is expected to drive up to the building in a car that is identical to his championship-winning McLaren MP4-23.