Poland's Robert Kubica is likely to be a Formula One title contender right to the end of the season after taking the lead in Canada last weekend, Lewis Hamilton said on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old McLaren driver, who first came up against Kubica a decade ago when they were in go-karts, added that he was confident he could see off the challenge from the BMW Sauber driver.
"I think he's always been a title contender from race one. He was sitting on P2 (second place on the starting grid) at the first race," the Briton told a news conference at the McLaren factory.
"I've always known that he's got great talent and that for sure he was going to be strong as soon as BMW pulled their socks up. And they have done," he added.
"They've done a great job, they've been very consistent and it is three teams at the front really battling it out.
"I think he (Kubica) is going to be pushing us right to the end but it's not particularly worrying. I still feel that we can come out on top but it's going to be a real challenge."
Kubica, who is also 23 years old, took his and his team's first grand prix win in a BMW Sauber one-two in Montreal while Hamilton collided with Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen in the pit lane.
With neither of the two frontrunners scoring a point, Kubica went four points clear of Hamilton and Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa in the drivers' standings.
Raikkonen, who had also led the championship before Hamilton won in Monaco last month to take back the advantage, is fourth and seven points adrift of Kubica after seven of the season's 18 races.
Ferrari lead the constructors' standings with 73 points to BMW Sauber's 70 and McLaren's 53.
Raikkonen congratulated Kubica on his Web site ( www.kimiraikkonen.com ) on Wednesday while making clear that he considered the Pole less of a threat than Hamilton and Massa.
"It was good for us that Kubica won in Canada," he said. "For our side, it was better that he got the 10 points but not my main rivals who are now just three points ahead of me."
Damon Hill, Britain's last Formula One world champion in 1996, was also unconvinced by Kubica's ability to mount a season-long challenge despite two second places and a third already this year.
"I would be surprised if BMW are ready yet to be consistent throughout the season," he told Reuters after the launch of the Go Motorsport campaign to encourage more people into all forms of motor racing. "But they've made such progress, this could be the middle of their upward curve. They may actually be getting better and better as the season goes," he added.
"It's a great season....I think it seems like Ferrari may have reached a little bit of a plateau and it's going to be another tight season.
"You could have three guys going into the final race to win the championship again."