Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 22 August 2008 /

Last year Lewis Hamilton had the Formula One Drivers Championship in his hands and let it slip. This year he's back from the mid season break with the lead again, and the question is: 'Has he learned from what went wrong?'

The signs are encouraging. Yesterday Lewis Hamilton was one of the first to get out and go round the new street circuit in Valencia which will host Sunday's European Grand Prix - even though he had to walk it! What he learned is that it is hot, dusty, still full of dirt from the last efforts of the construction workers, and not at all like Monaco.

While the rest of the papers are still absorbed with Olympics and Fabio Capello's stuttering start, the Daily Star gives a page lead to Grand Prix racing. And it makes interesting reading as Hamilton admits the unknown track won't necessarily help his chances of winning the European Grand Prix.

He says: "I walked round the track and it is bloody hot out there. They have done a pretty good job but it is very dirty and my throat is sore just from being out there. It doesn't really remind me of any other track I have seen, to be honest. It is just completely different. People say it is like Monaco, but it isn't. It is a lot quicker and the atmosphere is nothing like it."

Hamilton is [2.58] favourite to win the race based on his love of Monaco, with the idea that he should automatically drop into pole position and then win on another street circuit. His assessment immediately tells you that is the wrong way to approach a bet for this race. It isn't the same circuit, so don't give him any advantage for that.

What it does mean is that there will be dirt on the track, and probably other bits and pieces of debris which will have an effect on what happens. Those sort of conditions proved to be Hamilton's undoing in Hungary, where his love of pushing the car to the limit could have been one of the reasons why he collected the puncture that cost him the race.

Whenever there's a huge element of chance coming in, it has to be tempting to lay the favourite and after cleaning up on my recommendation to lay Wales against Georgia on Wednesday night I'm going for the second big lay of the week by opposing Hamilton.

The Ferraris are coming back strong and you can't expect Felipe Massa's car to blow its engine three laps out for the second time, so if you want to back a winner he looks great value at [4.7]

Hamilton, incidentally is still as short as [4.1] to be BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and that's one worth laying too to put some cash aside for Christmas treats! Swimmer Rebecca Adlington is favourite at [3.2] and is likely to stay that way. She's got her two gold medals in the bag, and has already been booked to appear on Question of Sport in the Autumn. By the time the BBC votes start being cast she'll have all the grannies on her side! Hamilton, in contrast, will have to win the Championship to have any hope of a late surge of popularity. He's [1.83] favourite, but as last year showed there's still a long way to go.

Five things you might not know about the European Grand Prix

1. It began as an honorary title for one of the regular races, starting at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1923 - but the idea was dropped after Spa in 1930

2. It started again in 1947 in Belgium and carried on for 30 years as an honorary title until the British race in 1977 when it was dropped once more

3. It started again in 1983 as a hastily arranged race when plans for a Grand Prix in New York fell through. Brands Hatch put together a new venue and used the title to explain why there were two races in Britain that year.

4. It was dropped again two years later - but then in 1993 brought back as a stopgap once more because of the failure of plans for new tracks in Japan and Asia.

5. The new winners trophy for the next seven years in Valencia is a weird piece of metal that's supposed to represent the city's Reina Sofia Arts Centre.

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