WHAT is it like being a new boy on the Formula One grid? Lewis Hamilton has barely had the opportunity to consider an answer to that question, having enjoyed a gilded start to his career, experiencing immediate success in one of the top teams. This lunchtime in Bahrain the McLaren driver can become the first man in the 58-year history of the sport to climb the podium in his first three races.

The past heroes of British motor racing made their starts in a variety of different ways — but to a man they declare themselves impressed with what they have seen so far from their successor.

“I started my career doing hill climbs when it was just you against the clock,” says Sir Stirling Moss, who cut his teeth in the late 1940s. “You had to develop your own style, and your own braking points and racecraft, you didn’t have anyone to learn from. And Lewis is lucky to have Fernando Alonso, the finest driver of the class of 2007 as his team leader.”

Nevertheless, Moss is impressed. “The best thing since I came on the scene,” he says, tongue in cheek, adding that he sees a potential world-beater in the 22-year-old. “One minute there’s a gap, the next minute Hamilton’s there. That’s the sign of a terrific racer; he has everything to be a world champion.”

The man who won the world title in a Ferrari in 1964, John Surtees, knows the feeling of being a new boy driving alongside one of the sport’s greats. He had the great Jim Clark as a teammate when he joined Lotus in 1960. “For a driver with confidence and ability, which Lewis has in spades, he is in the best place alongside Alonso. You are measuring yourself against the best and it is harsh but exhilarating,” he says. “There is no excuse for mistakes.”

Surtees believes Hamilton’s status as the new boy in the pit lane has been a big factor in his early success. “Lewis has a huge advantage in that the other drivers don’t know him yet,” says the 73-year-old. “They’ve all been racing against each other for years and so know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but Lewis is an enigma. I wrote him a note telling him not to trade his secrets, keep the mystique, it’s a valuable asset.” Like Hamilton, Sir Jackie Stewart experienced success almost immediately on his debut. “I came into Formula One in 1965 with BRM, and I won the Italian Grand Prix in that year, came second twice in Belgium and France and third at Monaco,” he recalls. “Here I was with the greats of the day — Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jochen Rindt — and I was competitive. My overriding memory of that year is my surprise at my success. I’m sure Lewis is feeling the same, you can’t fathom out how you can be competitive against your heroes.”

John Watson, who won five times, believes Hamilton has shaken a few drivers out of a cosy postSchumacher complacency. “Lewis has highlighted the lack of racing ability in today’s field,” he says. “The rest of today’s drivers need to have a wake-up call. Lewis blew them all away with his audacious overtaking moves in the first two races. They need to get in the game.

“Lewis is a lesson to any aspiring driver that hard work and dedication combined with talent pays off.”

Britain’s most successful debutant was the 1996 world champion Damon Hill. In his first full season in Formula One in 1993, he won three races, came second four times, third three times and fourth once, ending up third in the championship at the end of the season. Hamilton, he believes, must avoid the madding crowd to keep up his momentum.

“The biggest challenge is not racing, being a Formula One driver is all about winning,” says Hill. “The hardest part is finding a safe haven from the relentless media pressure and everyone wanting a piece of you. Motor racing is also about show business. I remember winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year twice and wondering how I deserved it against the great Olympians like Steve Redgrave.

“Lewis has more chance than me of winning multiple championships as he is starting younger. The pressure on him will be enormous but I’m sure McLaren is managing that.”

For five-times Le Mans winner Derek Bell there is a different, more sombre, memory of his early grands prix — death. “I raced with Jochen Rindt, Piers Courage, Ronnie Peterson, all dead. My first race was in a Ferrari at Monza. It was a great experience but the car broke down and I was walking back to the pits when Chris Amon came round the corner, spun on some oil, hit the guard rail and disappeared backwards. I thought he was dead. It was all about death when I was racing.

“Today, fortunately, it is different. Lewis is a breath of fresh air and is handling the pressure well. His problem is that he’s doing so well he might not realise how hard it is.”

The final word goes to Stewart who has already offered Hamilton the benefit of his experience. “Last December my son Paul and I took Lewis to the Springfield Club in Hackney. He was fantastic with the kids, very natural and I said to him, ‘Don’t let success change you, too many of today’s drivers are too big for their boots’.

“Lewis is a man of the people and the people will love him for it.”

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