To measure the impact of Lewis Hamilton on the British Grand Prix, you only have to walk down the far end of the pitlane and feel the space. Curiously, all the photographers and the autograph hunters, the movers and the shakers, are congregating a little further up the alley, outside the new £20m McLaren motorhome that will accommodate Formula One's new boy wonder, if he is to be believed, for the rest of his career.
Alternatively, you could gauge the reaction by noting that The Voice, an English language newspaper for the black community, has sent a journalist to the British Grand Prix for the first time and that at the mandatory press conference on Friday, only the issue of spying in Formula One rivalled Hamilton for airtime in the question and answer session. Everybody, from sponsors to merchandisers, from television moguls to the Northamptonshire farmer marketing his camping site as Hamilton Fields, has been subject to the gravitational pull of Hamilton's success. And, for once too, the annual browbeating of Silverstone, the ritual threat by Bernie Ecclestone, the head of the FIA, to withdraw the grand prix from the track for evermore, sounds hollow. In the world of motor racing power politics, the balance has tilted back Britain's way, shifted irrevo-cably by the 10st 10lb of a young black kid from Stevenage who has the potential to open Formula One to a whole new market.
Attendances on Friday reached a record of 42,000, a 10% increase on last year, and today's race has attracted a sell-out crowd of 85,000, numbers not seen since the days of Nigel Mansell. In line with figures for the Canadian GP (up 76%) and France (up 80%), ITV are expecting a 100% rise in their viewing figures today, from an average of 2.1m for last year's race to an estimated audience of 4.5m this afternoon.
The attraction is not just a bright new face in a sport in danger of becoming stale, but a wholesale rewriting of the manual for Formula One drivers. If a 22-year-old can cross the divide so seamlessly, handle the attention with such professional assurance, take eight straight podium places, including two victories, and lead the championship by 14 points almost halfway through the season, what else is possible for a new generation of young drivers?
Hamilton has swept away the fear, exposed the myth of experience and, with Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg, turned Formula One into the sport's most lucrative creche.
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For other drivers, the Hamilton Effect is beginning to wear a bit thin. A new storyline they can tolerate, but surely the spotlight must start to move elsewhere soon? There is little sign of it, certainly not this weekend at the 22-year-old's home grand prix. Rosberg, a good friend of Hamilton's from their days in the lower formulae, has lost count of the number of questions he has been asked about Hamilton. Sometimes, the interviewer does not even bother with the courtesy of a introductory question about his own career before launching into the life and times of Lewis.
Rosberg, number one driver at AT&T Williams and a relative veteran of the pitlane, though six months younger than Hamilton, absorbs the hype with the educated grace of a man steeped in Formula One and fluent in five languages. But the novelty is beginning to wear off. Just ask David Coulthard and Jenson Button, who have been similarly polite in providing the chorus to Hamilton's astonishing rise.
Coulthard, in particular, has been an articulate advocate of Hamilton's talent and a shrewd commentator on the process of evolution that will decide whether that talent can be translated into the currency of world titles. This, he says, is Stage One in the development, when the sheer thrill of Formula One is not tempered by cynicism, when mechanics are buddies and the community of the shop floor is warm and attractive.
"The guys in their first years are so approachable, so nice, still fly Easyjet, go to the factory, all of those things," said Coulthard. "When I was a test driver at Williams, I was at the factory every day because, frankly, I had nothing else to do. I was trying to soak up as much information as possible and create a career for the future. As Lewis inevitably moves offshore and grows into his life, he will spend less time at the factory because there just won't be the time.
"He will need energy, recovery time to maintain the level that he's already achieved over the next 10-15 years."
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Hamilton himself has barely had time to check the time, let alone the year. Twelve months ago, he was living in a caravan and encouraging any interview that came his way in the barren wastelands of GP2. Now, he arrives at stage-managed media events by helicopter and has a whole team to guide him through his commitments to sponsors, television and the press. Yet there are still glimpses of the boy, a trace of uncertainty in his manner. Where, he was asked last week, did he find peace and tranquillity in the revolving door of his new life? Answer, in God and golf.
"When I finish at the track, I go to my parents home and play golf with my Dad," he said. "Actually, golf's no help at all.
I'm terrible. I've got a lot of talent for any sport, I can hit the ball, but I'm very inconsistent. My Uncle Terry tells me what to do, but I'm a terrible pupil. I'd take lessons from Tiger. But I do believe my talent for motor racing is God-given. I'm not heavily into religion, but I feel safe, I always wear my cross, which was given to me by my mum. I believe we all have different levels of talent, it's just that some of us work harder to make the best of it. Some don't have as much talent as a driver like Kimi Raikkonen, but they end up being perhaps a little bit better."
Today will be a rite of passage for Hamilton, win or lose. Silverstone will be awash with patriotism and, like Mansell, Hamilton can be inspired by the responsibility. He has shown precious little sign of being overawed by any aspect of his profession so far. If he survives the pressure of his home grand prix, the rest of the season will take care of itself. Ad if he wins, a new gauge will be needed to measure the Hamilton Effect.
A week in the life of Lewis
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Sunday Finishes third in French Grand Prix to extend his lead in the world drivers' championship. Is invited to Diana concert at Wembley and to rap artist P Diddy's after-show party, but he doesn't get home in time and decides on early night instead
Monday Playing golf in Woking when his mobile phone rings. It is P Diddy, inviting him to dinner. He considers saying no, but decides to go, in company with singers Pharrell Williams and Natasha Bedingfield. Admits that he finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that the likes of P Diddy have his phone number, and vice versa. 'I was just driving down the road, thinking, "I've got P Diddy on my iPod, just listening to him, and I've got his number, this is my mate",' says Hamilton
Wednesday Speaks to guests of Tag Heuer, his watch sponsor, before appearing at a charity function
Thursday Appears at a go-kart event for Vodafone, one of McLaren's sponsors, where he gives a pep talk to the top 10 drivers in the 11-13-year-old British Cadet Championship. This is where it all began for Hamilton. He later arrives at Silverstone and shrugs off questions about alleged F1 espionage involving McLaren. 'It's a huge team, so I don't think it's going to make a huge difference,' he says
Friday Down to serious business as Hamilton gets behind the wheel of his McLaren
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Saturday Another qualifying session, another pole position ...