It looks so far like young Lewis is going to be trying hard to keep up with his famous rival. But it would be hard to bet against Alonso in this one. The man is so fast and so consistent and is also already a two times world champion. He’s going to be a tough cookie to crack. The big question is will all of this crack Hamilton?

He is very young but he’s also very experienced. I think Ron played a very shrewd game by getting Lewis down to those races last year. That really helped expose him to the media storm in a small controlled way. He’s now had some time to think about that and should now be prepared for what’s coming this year.

He’s a rookie, he’s bound to make mistakes. But he’s also fast. It almost comes down to the order that these come in as to what people make of him. Mistakes first speed second people will start predicting race wins before the end of the season. Fast first, the honeymoon is over, and when the mistakes come people will be writing that Ron is thinking of dropping the inconsistent Hamilton. And completely fabricated rumours have a habit of becoming reality in Formula One just by being repeated so often.

Personally I don’t think there will be much team mate rivalry here unless Hamilton wins a race before Alonso does. Alonso knows how good he is and doesn’t have to prove it to Hamilton. Also I think Alonso is a good bloke and will look to support Lewis. Whether this support neuters Hamilton’s ability to beat Alonso as it did to Fisi before him remains to be seen.