British sports are used to getting a good blasting every time they fail to achieve success. It was open season in the Press after England's footballers failed to qualify for Euro 2008 - just ask Steve McClaren!

The rugby team didn't fare much better after their shocking capitulation to Scotland. And Dwain Chambers was lambasted in newspapers up and down the land even after success at the European Indoor Championships following his positive drugs test more than four years ago.

But why is it that our Press always seems to take such delight in our sporting low points? Why, for example, shouldn't they get 100 per cent behind Formula One prodigy Lewis Hamilton and give him the praise he thoroughly deserves?

'He is an incredible talent and we should praise him while he's doing so well. I'm sure he will have bad races in the future, but he has made the sport of Formula One popular again after years in the doldrums'


He'll be in for a tougher season this time around simply because last year there was no pressure on him, whereas everyone will be expecting great things now. For a rookie to finish so close to a Drivers' Championship in his first season was outstanding. And it's not just the media that should be biased towards his success - the whole nation should get behind him.

He is an incredible talent and we should praise the boy while he's doing so well. I'm sure he will have bad races in the future, but he has made the sport of Formula One popular again after years in the doldrums. I can imagine a huge amount of people getting up in the early hours of Sunday morning just to watch their new star at the long-awaited season opener in Australia, hoping he can go all the way this year and finish ahead of Fernando Alonso and co.

So far, the Press have hounded Hamilton in his private life, gleefully reporting the fact he was suspended from driving for speeding in France and then suggesting he has turned his back on his homeland in moving to Switzerland.

And it's not just Hamilton who has to contend with it. David Coulthard and Jenson Button are both portrayed as playboys of the Formula One circuit who don't take their sport seriously enough. But neither of them have had the best of cars in recent years and therefore they can't be wholly to blame for their lack of recent success.

Rising stars like Hamilton and Scottish tennis player Andy Murray are making serious waves in their respective sports and they should be recognised for this. The press have the freedom to write what they want in the UK and it's time they put their efforts into supporting our boys, rather than simply waiting for them to put a foot wrong.

I for one wish Lewis the best of luck in this season's Formula One quest and I'll be supporting him all the way. I just hope the media will do the same.