There is no better story in sport than a rookie who wins big. And Lewis Hamilton is winning bigger than any rookie in Formula One history. His task this season seemed enormous – to make his debut in the same team as the reigning world champion Fernando Alonso, the Spanish driver who beat Michael Schumacher to two world titles.

Speaking a few months before the season began in Melbourne in March, the 22-year-old Hamilton’s expectations were, therefore, sensibly realistic. “Having the strongest teammate is such a big positive,” he said, “because there’s so much you can learn from them and the more experienced they are, the more you’ll learn. He [Alonso] is the toughest driver in F1 at the moment so it will be an extremely tough challenge but I’m looking forward to it. I love to make it hard for myself.”