Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 03 July 2008 /

But Lewis Hamilton can handle the pressure and drive himself to personal ambitions.

Andy Murray has gone and the search for a home hero switches to Lewis Hamilton. If Murray still doesn't have enough muscles to win Wimbledon then maybe Lewis can sizzle round Silverstone.

And he's certainly talking a good game as the Grand Prix circus began pitching its tent at the historic Northamptonshire track yesterday. Hamilton was insisting he's raring to go and ready to put the mistakes of Canada and France behind him. And he's told the Daily Star about his ambitions.

"People talk about winning the big four of Silverstone, Monaco, Monza and Spa but it's more straightforward for me," he says. "I want to win the first race of the season; I want to win Monte Carlo, both of which I did for the first time this year, and I want to win my home grand prix. Those are my goals and I'm ready for the challenge at Silverstone. We just need to get a really strong points finish. If we can beat the Ferraris and win on home turf it will be such a blow to everyone else."

If he's right then it's the perfect time to back him with odds of [5.2] for the drivers championship this season as he goes in to the race ten points behind Felipe Massa. He's also starting the race as [3.75] second favourite rather than in pole position in the betting as you might expect given home sentiment. Kimi Raikkonen is leading the way at [2.56].

But a word of warning about having a purely patriotic punt comes from another Brit, David Coulthard, who has been around the block a few times. He's interviewed at length in all the other tabloids, and most of them concentrate on his own thoughts on retirement and whether this might be the last time the Red Bull driver appears at Silverstone.

The Daily Mirror's Byron Young, though, gets to the nub of Coulthard's thoughts on Hamilton's growing flirtation with celebrity lifestyle, and a warning that he's becoming too much like David Beckham. Hamilton has warmed up for this weekend by racing Scalextric cars for one sponsor, sailing round the Isle of Wight for another, and dashing to Holland for a third.

Coulthard says: "Lewis is a well-educated, extremely talented guy and a friend. He is in control of what will happen off the track. He has it in his hands to decide how his time is used when he is not driving a racing car. If he goes down a Beckham-style route of really getting into all that, he will end up being extremely busy at the race track and extremely busy away from it which will take a toll. Look at Kimi Raikkonen. He is very private about his off-track profile. He doesn't do a good deal. He has a good drink with his buddies, he's not off doing book signings or celebrity parties."

It's an important point and suggests that while Hamilton could be worth backing for this race given his normal ability to deliver under pressure - and especially with wet weather forecast - in the long term he'll still be a lay for the world title. Given that rain always turns a race into a bit of a lottery it could make it worth looking for a longshot. Coulthard would be a romantic story - and at [40.0] a podium finish and [340.0] to win the race could just be worth a couple of quid for fun.

Five things you didn't know about David Coulthard

1. Born in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, his middle name is Marshall

2. He's put his earnings into property and hotels and owns the posh Columbus hotel in Monaco

3. He suffered from bulimia as a teenager

4. Every one of his 13 Formula One wins have come in cars designed by Adrian Newey - who has now followed him to work for Red Bull racing

5. The memorabilia from his 15-year career as a Grand Prix driver is all on show in a museum in Twynholm near Dumfries in Scotland

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