As if the maturity and level-headedness Lewis Hamilton demonstrated on the way to his maiden victory in Formula One wasn’t enough, one year on and the British star insists he has grown even stronger.

It is only a matter of time before Heikki Kovalainen climbs onto the top step of the podium, according to McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh.

The unlucky Finn has suffered a catalogue of mechanical problems and incidents in the last few races and has failed to score points befitting of the blistering pace he has demonstrated behind the wheel of his MP4-23.

The diamond encrusted helmets that Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will sport in today’s Monaco Grand Prix have been rigorously proofed for aerodynamic efficiency, Forumula1.net has learned.

The McLaren-Mercedes duo will make the dash around the Monte Carlo streets this year in special personalised helmets; their signatures paved in a line of hundreds of Steinmetz diamonds.

Heikki Kovalainen insists he has yet to show his true colours around the bumpy streets of Monte Carlo.

The Finn lapped the demanding 3.4km street circuit a full seven tenths of a second slower than team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Thursday warm up, the McLaren driver struggling to hit the sweet spot in his setup.

Lewis Hamilton is bracing himself for an unpredictable and volatile foray around the tortuous streets of Monte-Carlo, but the British ace insists he is focused firmly on the job in hand despite the glamorous distractions that besiege the principality.

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh is confident that the tyre problems that hampered Lewis Hamilton in Turkey will not be an issue around the twisty streets of Monte Carlo.

The Woking-based outfit were forced to run Lewis Hamilton on an unconventional three-stop strategy in Turkey to avoid the risk of tyre failure.

McLaren Mercedes CEO Martin Whitmarsh believes new boy Heikki Kovalainen still has to raise his game despite a string of fine early season performances. The 26-year-old Finn recorded the fastest laps in Australia and Bahrain and a podium finish in Malaysia to emerge as one of the front-runners for this year’s World Championship.

The incidents at Barcelona a fortnight ago in which a small minority of Spanish fans hurled racist abuse at Lewis Hamilton caused a media backlash in the British press and led the FIA to introduce a new global anti-racism campaign. Christopher Hayes talks to Lino Uruñuela, webmaster of the Spanish Fan Site Fernando-Alonso.org, and assesses the reaction to events in Spain.

The FIA may have concluded their investigation into McLaren and their possession of confidential documents belonging to arch-rivals Ferrari, but the Italian team continue to pursue the matter through the courts.

McLaren have confirmed that key members of their Senior Management team have been requested to travel to Modena on the 18th February to answer questions from Italian magistrates.

McLaren Mercedes have launched their new car, the MP4-23, today in Stuttgart, Germany. They are the second team to unveil their 2008 car.

The launch has coincided with driver Lewis Hamilton’s birthday. “It’s Lewis’ birthday today – we’ve gone to a lot of trouble,” Ron Dennis explained. “He is 23, it is the MP4-23 and he will carry 23 on the car – but that is more by accident than judgement I must say!”