Motor Racing: Hamilton Happy in the Spotlight

In the sweltering paddock at the Sepang circuit reporters and broadcasters jostled with each other in a mad scrum outside the McLaren offices. The object of their attention was Lewis Hamilton and his preparation for Sunday's second round of the formula one world championship. Yet McLaren's youngest recruit was no more likely to be derailed by the media than by an opponent on the circuit. Hamilton admitted that he was taken aback at the level of coverage he attracted after finishing third in Melbourne. "It all seems slightly unreal, like an out-of-body experience," he said.

"I thought Sepang looked like a great circuit and I wasn't disappointed. Its layout means you can build up a great rhythm with all the corners running into each other. The four days of testing last week were really useful on two counts. We had a number of developments on the car, which we ran and will now bring to race.

"We have all been working to reduce the gap to Ferrari and I will do my best with Fernando [Alonso] and the team towards this in Malaysia."

Alonso remained reserved. Asked if he felt that Hamilton might beat him sooner rather than later during the season, he replied: "There are 17 races, so ask me again when we've finished them all." The Spanish driver preferred to talk tyres and chassis set-up rather than inter-team rivalry, making the point that he likes Sepang and won here in 2005. He could have been forgiven for thinking that his biggest challenge might come from the man in a car identical to his own.

Spyker protested yesterday against the legality of the cars entered by Toro Rosso. The British-based team said they had submitted a protest after scrutineering for Sunday's race and the stewards were considering it. Both Ferrari-powered teams have been at loggerheads since before the season began, with Spyker taking both Toro Rosso and Honda-backed Super Aguri to arbitration in a row over so-called customer cars. Spyker say Super Aguri and Toro Rosso cannot be considered as constructors, and should therefore not be eligible for points in that championship. The two teams say their cars are legal.