Welcome to Formula One, Lewis. The problem Hamilton has is that he is up against the best guy in the pit lane, Fernando Alonso. Lewis knows he has the speed. He knows he is in a winning car. But after Monaco he realises there is more to be done if he is going to win a grand prix. And I'm not talking about behind the wheel of the car.

Lewis is in a difficult position. The process that worked so well to get him where he is now, is in a sense holding him back. In terms of the driver dynamics, he is still Lewis the rookie. That is how the vast majority of the team will see him and treat him. He is still a boy.

Fernando is the world champion. The man. His relationship with the team is more formal. He negotiated a big contract and has the power. Lewis has to learn how to make his presence felt in the team the way that Fernando does.

In my career, I didn't realise the importance of that part of the game until it was too late. If I had stopped being such a nice guy every time I stepped into an F1 car and had more of a hard edge about me like Ayrton Senna, for example, it would have served me much better. There has to be a selfishness about you almost to the point where people don't like you. But they will respect you. That is all that matters.

That is the position Fernando has engineered for himself at McLaren. Lewis has to go away and learn from this. We have no doubts about his speed or his mental make-up. We are talking about experience here. He has to break Fernando's grip on power. That's not going to be easy.

McLaren have made a huge investment to bring the two-times world champion to the team. Lewis is the most refreshing thing to come into F1 in the last 10 or 20 years. But he has completed only five grands prix. He's been brilliant but he is not quite at the point where he needs to get to, or where we all think he will get to. That is winning races.

Let's just take a step back and take a hard business view, as McLaren have to do. We never thought that Lewis would be in the situation he is in now. On that basis, if you are investing in the champion, and he is going to come in making demands, you are going to accept them because he is the guy you want. Alonso and McLaren have been given a shock. Fernando is having to work as hard as he ever has and McLaren have a rivalry to manage.

Fernando was flawless all weekend, precision perfect. He did not make one mistake, did not put a wheel wrong. You only have to look at the lap times. It was mind-blowing. His first 10 race laps were something every driver would like to have on his CV. The Spaniard's qualifying lap was as perfect as you will ever see.

There is a world of difference between the team-mates' career phases. Just look around the car. There is a lot of Spanish influence and sponsorship. Lewis has to understand that this is not just a sport, it's a business. Within the business model Fernando is in the far stronger position.

Hamilton clearly has areas of frustration. He has a huge amount of support and goodwill in the team. His challenge now is to find a way to make his voice heard so that he gets the team to deliver the strategy he wants. He needs to start asking the team some serious questions about how he is going to be allowed to compete.

This won't happen overnight. Lewis is experiencing the hard side of F1, the reality if you like. This could be all part of the test McLaren have set him. They have been here before. They have dealt with the Niki Laudas, the Alain Prosts and the Sennas. This is a 24/7 job. Lewis has to learn that lesson now to get to the next level. When he does, boy, are we going to have one powerful customer.