McLaren-Mercedes dominated this weekend’s German Grand Prix from the first practice session on Friday morning to the race today. And so confident were they of victory, they still almost managed to throw it away.

The MP4-24 really did look imperious in the hands of Lewis Hamilton, and from the end of the opening lap you couldn’t really see anyone else winning so long as there were no dramas along the way.

I’ve been impressed with Hamilton’s attitude after the criticism levelled at him after Montreal and Magny-Cours, and he showed at Silverstone and again at Hockenheim just how great a driver he is when the car is working and he’s “on it”, as he puts it.

Whether he can remain “on it” for the rest of the season remains to be seen, and I’m sure Ferrari and BMW-Sauber will continue to apply pressure in whatever form they can, while you can always rely on the good old British press to find something to have a go at.

Ferrari were very out of sorts again this weekend, and that had something to do with just how easy it was for Hamilton to win, despite McLaren’s decision not to pit him under the safety-car period during the second-stop window.

Championship rival Kimi Raikkonen hasn’t had a great weekend now since Spain, but the car even looked hideous with Felipe Massa behind the wheel, although his set-up was certainly better than that of his team-mate.

With Massa finishing third behind fellow Brazilian Nelson Piquet, Hamilton has a four-point lead heading to the next race at the Hungaroring in Budapest in two weeks’ time, but on the back of being the only driver this season to secure back-to-back victories, and in contrasting circumstances.

While Hockenheim was a circuit Hamilton had never raced on in Formula 1 before - and where McLaren hadn’t won since 1999 - Hungary was the scene of his third victory in F1 last season and a race McLaren have won for the past two years. And I’m sure Hamilton and McLaren will again be in great form through the dusty twists and turns.

In the last two races, Lewis has driven like a champion, but with Ferrari suffering, he has to ensure at Budapest that he continues to take advantage of their failings. He went into the Hungarian Grand Prix last season with a two-point cushion over Raikkonen and won, yet still threw it away as Raikkonen finished on the podium in each of the last seven races and he made mistakes.

Hamilton can’t afford any more mistakes between now and the end of the season. We have two new street races in Valencia and Singapore which could go either way, but the end of the season brings some Ferrari-favoured circuits. Hamilton needs more of a lead before the Japanese Grand Prix at Oyama in October than the he had last season if he is to win his first World Drivers Championship and that means playing the points, if necessary, rather than going for a race win.

After his second pit stop he almost collided with Toyota’s Jarno Trulli – who he wasn’t racing – in an effort to catch up to Massa. We know he has had a tendency to overdrive the car, and the arrogance to ignore messages from the team, and he will have to have the self-discipline to ensure he makes the right decisions.

I can’t see BMW-Sauber mounting a realistic challenge for the drivers’ title. They are largely inconsistent, albeit better than they have been in recent years. Robert Kubica is currently 10 points away from Hamilton but had a disappointing race at Hockenheim and was outclassed by team-mate Nick Heidfeld at his home race.

This year is the taste of what is to come from BMW. They are slowly building towards a big push to challenge the “big two”, and it could be as early as next season where we see a level of consistency from the BMW drivers that sees the team launch a realistic challenge at the world title.

The 2008 drivers’ crown is now Hamilton’s for the taking. Massa showed today just how suspect his defences are as Hamilton forced him into submission and passed him with ease.

Raikkonen’s dismal sixth place leaves him seven points behind, and far from looking like challenging. I wouldn’t write him off just yet. He came from further behind to win the WDC last year, but if Hamilton remains “on it” and the McLaren’s reliability holds up, he will become the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996.