What Will 2009 Hold for Hamilton?

Come Melbourne 2009, Lewis Hamilton will wear the tag of reigning Formula One world champion. After a turbulent second season of F1 he realised his dream and everyone was forced to acknowledge that he thoroughly deserves it.

Hamilton was given a hero's welcome at the McLaren HQ in Surrey today on his first visit there since he won the championship in an enthralling season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton passed Toyota's Timo Glock with two corners to go at Interlagos to claim the fifth place he needed to win the championship. Ferrari's Felipe Massa won the race and did all he could do but it wasn't meant to be though. The Brazilian was gracious in defeat and that's a sign of a world champion which he'll no doubt become.

But what does next season hold for Hamilton and McLaren? As a team, McLaren will once again be one of the top two teams on the grid but as far as the drivers go, I think Hamilton will get some stiff competition! from teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

The young Finn very much played a backroom role at McLaren, not challenging Hamilton on the track and basically getting used to the car and the team. His maiden grand prix win earlier this year will have inspired him to do better next season and with the package McLaren have, Kovalainen will definitely be more than just a solid number two.

After the success of this year, Ferrari will seriously have to think who they'll be backing as the number one driver. Kimi Raikkonen is still a world champion so logic says they should still back him at the start of the season but Massa's achievements this year can't be overlooked. Either way, both Massa and Raikkonen will still be a threat to Hamilton as will Renault's Fernando Alonso, who's been more than impressive in the latter half of the season. Expect BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica to be there or thereabouts. A dark horse could be Williams driver Nico Rosberg who has shown that,! with the right car, he can be a real handful.

So ! already, it looks to be a very interesting 2009 season but ultimately it'll come down to who best deals with KERS and all the other new technical requirements.