Martin Whitmarsh is confident Lewis Hamilton will "build and go forward" after his maiden British Grand Prix triumph and fulfil his potential by becoming Formula One world champion.
McLaren's F1 chief executive joined many other observers in praising the level of Hamilton's majestic performance in taking victory in Sunday's race at a wet Silverstone.
Whitmarsh described it as a drive that "those of us involved, and many other people, will remember for the rest of their lives. I'm sure Lewis will too".
But after returning to the top of the championship standings in a three-way tie alongside Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, the objective now is for Hamilton to push on from the stunning win and lift the title.
With Hamilton's recent problems seemingly behind him, Whitmarsh said: "Lewis has had a very difficult and challenging time.
"To come out with such flying colours, he must now believe he has momentum, the team has momentum and he can come through this, but he's still on a learning curve.
"Last year he had a dream start with the nine podiums which were absolutely incredible. It seems easy when you do that, and I'm sure it seemed easy for Lewis.
"There was no pressure because he was the rookie against a two-time world champion (Fernando Alonso). But at some point, however great you are, you have to have the real challenge.
"We are at the highest level of motorsport and he had to expect that, and it's been a learning process.
"Sometimes things haven't gone quite right, perhaps it's not quite been as easy, or the pressure is much higher. But he had to experience that, learn about it and learn about himself.
"Along the way we've also made mistakes, he's made mistakes, but after a result like yesterday he can only build and go forward."
As Hamilton is still only 26 races into his F1 career, Whitmarsh obviously feels there is room for improvement, and that it will ultimately culminate in a title triumph.
"Inevitably when you set the bar as high as Lewis does, if you slip underneath it or knock it off, people are going to understandably question whether this was a passing phenomenon," added Whitmarsh.
"Yet he still hasn't realised his full potential, and he's going to get better.
"It's very clear he has the potential to be a world champion - he hasn't been one yet and until he has, he hasn't achieved that potential.
"So he will be as determined as we are that he does that this year."
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