Lewis Hamilton sails into trouble on the Round the Isle of Wight yacht race.

Lewis Hamilton voted No.1 playboy by Nuts magazine.

Lewis Hamilton takes starring role at Brooklands Festival.

Lewis Hamilton nibbled fruit off body of naked model.

Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix.

Maybe, though if you read the latest batch of headlines about Britain's grand prix golden boy, victory is guaranteed. There appears to be no one else in Sunday's race. Trouble is, there is and at least three or four of them could spoil the party.

While Hamilton has been feted and fussed over in the built up to his home grand prix at Silverstone, the likes of Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso have been entirely overlooked.

It is a British thing. James Hunt, Damon Hill and Jenson Button (remember him?) were subjected to the frenzy although, strangely, not David Coulthard.

I remember first experiencing the British hype in 1982 when John Watson came to his 'home' race leading the World championship.

He had won at Silverstone the previous year for McLaren, and the memories of him crossing the line with an Ulster flag emblazoned with his number seven flying proudly are still vivid. But he had been the underdog then and the headlines all came after the race.

In 1983 he had already won in America and in Belgium to lead the title race and I arrived at Silverstone on the Thursday afternoon to be greeted by colleagues in the press centre with the news that McLaren had banned all interviews with Wattie in an effort to divert the hype and the media pressure from him.

It seemed we would have to rely on the standardised press release from McLaren to get Watson's views on one of the biggest races of his career. Hardly what I had travelled to Silverstone for.

I wandered off down to the camping area with Richard Young from Downtown Radio in search of John's parents, Joan and the late Marshall Watson, who we knew always had a camper van on site. More by luck than good judgement we found them and were enjoying a cup of coffee when who walked in but the World championship leader himself.

"Forget the ban," he said. "I'll be here for breakfast each morning if you want to drop in — but don't tell anyone else."

Sad to say, while the arrangement worked out perfectly, the race didn't and he was forced to retire, one of three in a row which in the end cost him the World title.

These days, with the demands of the TV paymasters and sponsors, the idea of a ban would be unthinkable. Hamilton is not just in Formula One to race, he is there to promote as well and the pressure to perform on and off the track has been showing in recent weeks. His pitlane crash in Canada resulted in a 10-place grid demotion in France which was followed by a drive-through penalty for gaining an advantage by cutting a chicane. These incidents have seen the Hamilton halo slip.

He's been objecting to the "crap" written about him and asserting that "they" — presumably the F1 stewards who have penalised him — will not divert him from his goal of becoming World champion.

True, he has been on a charm offensive this week, no doubt at the instigation of the PR men who surround him, and apart from The Sun's " Lewis went bananas in bed" headline, the daily coverage has gone some way to restoring the "golden boy" image.

But it is all good news for Raikkonen and Co. No one has been chasing the latest Raikkonen on the booze story. No one attempting to re-kindle the Alonso feud from 2007. They have been left to concentrate on the race.

Come Sunday the pressure will be intense and it remains to be seen if Hamilton can handle it like Andy Murray has done this week. The answer to that question may define his season — world champion in the making or celebrity boyfriend of a Pussycat Doll.