When you are used to being the centre of attention, it is painful to put up with someone stealing your place in the sun. Lewis Hamilton is learning exactly what that feels like. He may be the Formula One world champion but he cannot retain his title and, meanwhile, Jenson Button, his countryman, is being seen as having snatched his crown with almost indecent haste.

Both men turned up at Silverstone yesterday for the British Grand Prix, the eighth round of this season, aware that their roles have been reversed from 12 months ago, when it was Hamilton who was fighting for a World Championship and driving a car capable of winning races. He produced one of his finest drives to win a wet grand prix at the old airfield in Northamptonshire, a performance that marked a return to title-winning form after a couple of bad races.

Button, by contrast, was well and truly in the doldrums, driving a pig of a Honda, which was so bad that his new team principal at the time, Ross Brawn, had written it off to concentrate on a machine that this year is propelling the “Frome Flyer” to what looks like certain glory. Indeed, one bookmaker put up the white flag on this season last night and announced that it has decided to pay out on Button now.

“Congratulations to punters who got it bang on the Button,” Paddy Power said. “Ross Brawn has yet again left the rest of the Formula One world on their backsides, so why wait another five months to collect your bet when it’s obvious the chequered flag has already been waved for this season.”

Hamilton’s modest goal will be to get in the points this weekend. But he believes the fans, who will come to the last grand prix at Silverstone in their thousands on Sunday, will not forget him. He is world champion, after all, and there is, in “Hamilton Fields”, at least one campsite at the circuit still bearing his name. “I have no doubts that this weekend people are turning up to see another Brit win the race, but they will also remember last year when I won by 68 seconds and lapped everyone up to third and took them to a win and to the World Championship,” Hamilton said. “They will still bear in mind that I’m there, so I’m quite happy that I still have the support.”

There was something almost plaintive about those remarks, which underline just how cruel Formula One can be. Even the world’s greatest driver (not necessarily Hamilton) is nowhere in this sport if he does not have the right car and, despite the inevitable concentration on drivers in the media, motor sport at this level remains the ultimate team game. In Hamilton’s case, a team of about 1,000 people at McLaren Mercedes have got it wrong with him this season; in Button’s, about 450 people at Brawn GP have got it right.

You can tell it hurts but Hamilton says he is genuinely delighted for Button. “I feel very proud of what Jenson’s achieved this year,” the 24-year-old from Stevenage, Hertfordshire said of his 29-year-old rival. “I think he’s been able to represent Britain and keep us fighting at the front. Definitely, if I’m not able to do it, I would definitely rather have a fellow Brit do it. Like I said, we’re very fortunate to have Jenson doing that.

“And me; you know, I’m sitting here, I’ve got No 1 on my car, so it’s still kind of a nice feeling. It’s still a great achievement that I’m very proud of and I’m working as hard as ever. I’m still here, I’m still battling it out and fighting as hard as I can and hopefully we will be here for many more years.”