You wouldn't want to dampen any national fervour surrounding the first British one-two champion Formula One combination since Graham Hill and Jim Clark drove for Lotus in 1968 - especially when the new McLaren team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button stopped short yesterday only at nicking their fingers and announcing themselves official blood brothers.

It's a thrilling scenario that has the number one drivers of 2008 and 2009 duelling hand-to -hand in cars of beautifully engineered parity. But who really thinks that in Grand Prix racing, of all places, we might just be seeing a perfectly restored concept of pure racing?

Certainly we haven't enjoyed too much recent schooling in the idea that such a possibility was on the horizon — not at any point, you have to say, since the late James Hunt more than three decades ago declared that the contribution of a driver to Grand Prix success had been reduced to around 10 per cent.

Nor did Sir Frank Williams more recently strike a blow for competitive independence in the cockpit when he declared that choosing a new driver was 'a bit like pinning the tail on the donkey.'

Who is number one at McLaren? Who is the designated thoroughbred — and who is the donkey?

Is the top man Button, who finished with the champion's prize a few weeks ago in a fever of exhilaration, or the formidable 'natural' racer Hamilton? The latter has always been forthright about his expectations. He wants the best possible car, the best chance of winning, and it is a privilege many feel he will be reluctant to share, in race conditions, with the man he privately believes has done not much more than borrow his title after one bizarre season.

It is an impression that can only be enhanced by the widespread belief that Hamilton and his father Anthony most favoured the retention of the relatively mild, and thus unthreatening Finn Heiki Kovalainen.

We have been given, we are told, a battle between British equals, not withstanding the fact that Hamilton is on £15m, Button six. However, the reigning champion declares, “It's not about money.” Not about money in Formula One, what then?

Soon, he might just be able to tell us. Or, he might be too busy fighting for his driving life against his new blood brother.