WHY LEWIS IS TAKING THE FLAK

After initially being hailed as a sensation, a breath of fresh air and even the saviour of Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton has had a rougher ride from parts of the media and rival drivers in recent weeks.

In his latest column for ITV-F1.com, Mark Hughes examines why the rookie champion-elect has become something of a punching bag, and whether any of the criticism is justified.

When Lewis Hamilton put his car into the Shanghai pit lane's gravel trap there was a lot of spontaneous and ill-concealed cheering in the non-British sector of the press room.

Similarly, when he had arrived at the track and found himself facing a barrage of criticism - and a possible penalty - for the manner of his driving behind the safety car in Fuji, he noted that a lot of his fellow drivers seemed to have their rifles trained on him.

His father Anthony made the point that it was just the same as in every other category he's raced: his success has brought resentment.

But it's about more than his success. It's about the mentality of a winner and how that frequently manifests itself in actions that are unpopular.

Even Hamilton's summoning for the marshals to push him out of the gravel was greeted with jeering by onlookers.

What is it about him that has clearly got up some noses?

If he wins the world championship without even the grace of an F1 apprenticeship, for sure some feel that this somehow demeans the sport.

If he achieves what no hero of a former era has ever achieved, it somehow threatens dearly-held convictions about their relative greatness.

So there is satisfaction when he fails. And even when he wins, there is invariably criticism in how it has been achieved. But it's nonsense, all of it.

There is the regular suggestion that he pushes the boundaries of on-track etiquette and maybe he does. But he hasn't yet over-stepped them - unlike Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna before him.

Looking at this season, there was a bit of weaving down to the first corner in Bahrain to keep Fernando Alonso behind him. But it was strictly within the regulations - one move, then another one back to take up the line into the turn.

It was a similar story against Alonso at Indy, both at the start and later in the race as Alonso got a run on him down the pit straight. Both times Hamilton moved across to stymie the move, then moved back to take up his line.

There was a no-compromise chop to Kimi Raikkonen off the Silverstone grid and another later in the race into Brooklands - but again absolutely within the letter of the law. It may not be a good law, but that's hardly his fault.

On the restart behind the first safety car in Fuji he was perhaps a little over-aggressive in getting the jump on Alonso, braking so hard that Alonso (technically illegally) passed him to avoid an accident.

But again, it's long been accepted that on the lap the safety car is coming in, the leader is the safety car and is entitled to do whatever he feels he needs to - and it's up to the rest of the field to keep from driving into him.

What was he supposed to do? Play no defensive tricks at all and simply allow anyone who fancied it having a pop at his lead?

Because it was Lewis - the guy that's just too good to be true, the guy many don't want to believe can be as good as he is - he got the flak.

However, he didn't help his own cause with his criticism of Alonso's totally fair defensive move at the first corner in Spa.

There was also some glee from his detractors when Ron Dennis revealed that the circumstances leading to Alonso's blocking of Hamilton in the Hungary pit lane during qualifying had been triggered by Lewis's non-compliance with a team request at the beginning of the session.

He is no angel; he will fight his corner with all the ruthlessness necessary to achieve his goals. But where he chooses to draw the competitive line has so far been within the sport's regulations.

There has been no attempt at driving a rival off the track (a la Senna at Suzuka 1990, Schumacher at Jerez 1997), no brake-testing an opponent mid-corner (Alonso on Schumacher at the Nurburgring 2003).

All he has done so far is trick himself an advantage within the team on fuel burn - and that is strictly an internal matter.

How many greats have hoodwinked their team-mates on set-up or agreed agendas in the past? Lots. It's part of the game.

But he's just a bit too good, a bit too perfect, a bit too cheesy perhaps, to be universally applauded. There's a suspicion that he could be about to dominate the sport just when the sport thought it had rid itself of domination by one guy.

But his biggest 'crime' of all is that he's a bit too recent. A bit too arriviste to possibly be as good as he seems.

Forget it. He's already a great.