It takes one to know one, and Mika Hakkinen believes that Lewis Hamilton could be the greatest driver of all time. Michael Schumacher, seven times the Formula One world champion, rated Hakkinen as his biggest and most talented adversary.

The Finn won two world titles with the same McLaren Mercedes team who took Hamilton to his maiden World Championship last season. That has given Hakkinen a unique insight into the talent and character of a young man whose career has been laced with equal amounts of success and controversy.

In ten days’ time, Hamilton, 23, will be one of the contenders for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. He should be clear favourite, even in an Olympic year of staggering success, but already there are rumblings that he has ruffled too many feathers among a disillusioned public who like their sportsmen and women to be home-town heroes.

Joe Calzaghe, last year’s winner, still trains at the Newbridge Boxing Club among the people he grew up with, even though he has made millions as an undefeated champion; Zara Phillips, the 2006 Sports Personality, may be the daughter of the Princess Royal, but her down-to-earth nature and engagement to Mike Tindall, the England rugby union player, endeared her to the voting public.

Hamilton, by contrast, had barely completed a year in Formula One before his autobiography was on the shelves, he had announced he was moving to Switzerland as a tax exile and had a pop-star girlfriend. Shopkeepers in his Hertfordshire home town of Stevenage were hoping he would switch on their Christmas lights last week; the lights are on but Hamilton is definitely not at home.

Hakkinen, though, sees Hamilton behind the closed doors of the McLaren motorhome and likes what he sees. “You have got a good guy there,” he said. “Lewis is so talented and, better than that, he is a great guy with a great personality. He is going to be a great role model for kids around the world. I don’t think you could find a better guy than him anywhere.”

Finding a great role model is an important factor for Hakkinen, who, at 40, is using his fame to help children who, like him and Hamilton, are starting at the bottom of life’s pile. Yesterday, he was at a go-kart track in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, as the new ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, instructing youngsters between 13 and 15. They are children excluded from school, who have wandered into petty crime or who just need help to be part of society. Hakkinen, the son of a part-time taxi driver, believes that they can learn a lesson for life from motor racing through a new scheme, called MotorV8, financed with €100,000 (about £85,800) from Laureus. “They can learn about teamwork, how to work with other people in motor racing,” he said. “The main thing is that we inspire them and provide role models.”

The kids might not have known who Hakkinen was, but they knew the name of Hamilton. Hakkinen has no doubts that Hamilton will provide an inspiration for a generation because of his commitment, his tenacity — and his sheer daring, one reason why the McLaren driver has made so many mistakes on his way to becoming the youngest Formula One champion in history. “Lewis drives so fast, he is always going to make mistakes,” Hakkinen said.

“Driving like that makes anything possible. But, believe me, this guy is good. He is a young guy, he is with a great team and he has shown great commitment to the team for a long period. He has a fantastic fitness programme so that he will have the energy to drive for years to maximise his performance for a long time to come.

“I just do not see why he cannot become the best there is. He is only in his second year in Formula One and that is a very high-pressure environment. But he deals with it. He has youth and talent on his side. He can be the greatest.”