By Andrew Benson BBC Sport at Silverstone

Fernando Alonso is nine races away from becoming the youngest Formula One world champion in history, yet he remains the calm at the centre of a strengthening storm.

In the blink of an eye, the 23-year-old Spaniard has gone from a promising rising star to the main man in one of the world's biggest sports.

That brings its own special pressures. The media want more of you. Every move is scrutinised.

Raise your hands for the next big thing in Formula One

And while a Grand Prix driver's team do want they can to shield him from these pressures, they cannot protect him from his own thoughts.

Some crumble under that pressure, but Alonso seems to be thriving on it. All his usual strengths remain. In the car, his incredible consistency during a race; out of it, his laid-back character.

As practice started on Friday, he could be found sitting casually on the cabinets in the Renault motorhome, fireproof overalls hanging round his waist, corporate cap pulled down over tousled shoulder-length hair.

But there is one noticeable change in him. He has a heightened focus, a sense that everything is more important than before, that this is his time and he has to make the most of it.

Ask him if he feels different, with the world championship almost within touching distance, and he does not hesitate.

"Yeah, a lot," he says. "Extra motivation. You are much happier than last year arriving to the races. You enjoy every part of the weekend from Thursday through to Sunday afternoon.

"Everything you do, the meetings, the tyre choice, things like that. Maybe last year they were important but at the end of the day you were too far away to win the race.

If I have a bad weekend, it's not the end of my championship chances, but if my opponents have a bad weekend it is not looking great for them at all Fernando Alonso

"This year all those decisions are crucial if you want to win the race. It's really a good feeling."

Alonso and his Renault team have been a formidable combination this season.

They got off to a flying start, winning the first four races, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking the first and Alonso the next three, and have not looked back.

In many ways, they are the new Ferrari, in that they have made the most of what they have - and made very few mistakes.

Renault engineers admit that, lap for lap, the McLaren is "probably 0.1-0.2secs quicker than our car".

But McLaren's title challenger Kimi Raikkonen has lost at least two - and possibly three - victories through either car failure or driver error, while Alonso has been metronomically racking up the points.

When Renault have been quickest, they have won. And when they have not, they have either finished second or been in a position to inherit victory when Raikkonen has hit trouble.

Renault people who have known both are beginning to compare Alonso to Ayrton Senna

Even on their least competitive weekend, when they had terrible tyre troubles in Monaco, Alonso managed to drag his hobbled car to fourth place.

So while McLaren have had the fastest car since the fourth race, the San Marino Grand Prix, Raikkonen has effectively made no in-roads into Alonso's lead.

That performance in Monaco underlined Alonso's strength - he never gives up, and always extracts the maximum from his car.

Perhaps Alonso is not quite as fast over one lap in qualifying as the very best - although the margins are very small.

Alonso has had to get used to the added attention this season

But with that one proviso, Renault people who have known both are beginning to compare him to Ayrton Senna. And there are few greater compliments for a Grand Prix driver than that.

Alonso has made only one mistake this year, when he crashed while racing the McLarens in Canada.

And given his and Renault's consistency, the general excellence of his driving and a 24-point lead, it is difficult to see how he can lose the championship.

The sense that there is something to lose can put extra pressure on a driver, make him force things and more prone to error.

Raikkonen, by contrast, with a big deficit to overhaul, has no choice but to go flat out.

Typically, though, Alonso sees it the other way around. "I'm in a good position. I have nothing to lose," he says.

"If I have a bad weekend, it's not the end of my championship chances, but if my opponents have a bad weekend it is not looking great for them at all."