As for Rubens’ performance, I’d rather see Trulli pensioned off over Rubens. Trulli is another one who I can’t see what all the fuss is about, and one of the few drivers I genuinely dislike.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on Jenson Button. The thing that impresses me the most about him this year is the amount he has improved from last year. He was pretty lacklustre last year, but you do sense that he is really working much better this year. Ross Brawn’s comments back that up for me.

As for Barrichello, I think it’s fairer to say that he is struggling because he is getting a bit past it now. I’m not sure if his “number 2″ reputation is at play. I always thought that was a bit unfair on Barrichello. He outclassed Johnny Herbert at Stewart and did an awful lot more to assert himself at Ferrari than Eddie Irvine ever did. Not that Herbert or Irvine were all-time greats themselves, mind you…

Great points about Webber. But for me, the missing thing is that elusive win. He may have had some good scraps this year, and outclassed Vettel a couple of times. But he is yet to cross the stripe first in his entire F1 career, and finishing 1st is the bottom line in motor racing.

I share your disappointment about Alonso. Like I say, he could make a similar resurgence to last year. But you make a good point that he is probably just going through the motions just now — perhaps waiting until he gets in the red car to really push himself again.

For me, this season, the stand out driver is Webber. Maybe not so much for results – although he has had some good ones – but for the sheer tenacity he has displayed, and the visual images of him wringing everything he can get out of that Red Bull. And while Vettel has won twice, show me any times he overtook anyone to do so, or really actually, you know, raced? Webber has been in the thick of the best battles this season, and put in performances few suspected him capable of (yours truly excluded of course). Sure I think Vettel probably outclasses Webber – certainly will in the future- but I still beleive that Webber is doing the ‘driving’ of the season. Not bad for a bloke who still can’t walk properly on his not fully healed broken leg, and by all rights probably shouldn’t even be capable of racing.

The disappointment of the season to me is Alonso. Sure the Renault is a dog, but I still fully expected Nando to be able to do something with it. Anyone else get the feeling he is just marking time? Not the Nando we know and love. I hope he gets his mojo back for the remainder of the season.

#10/Kimi- Thanks for not mentioning the Malaysia thing!… I was worried that his nickname was going to change from Ice Man to Ice Cream Man. People forget that just 26 hours before he decided not to run in a restart, he’d nearly been choked to death in noxious fumes from his KERS… You can see how he wouldn’t want to take a voltage bucket like that out for a swim across the lake! And then, just an hour earlier, the team had bungled his tire assignments. Bad day! Nothing personal!… An uneven driver, maybe, but still a world champion. (I’ve been reviewing old seasons: His sheer animal courage in driving that shredded tire to disaster in Nurburgring ’05 is inspiring.)

#9/Lewis: The thing about Albert Park was that even if it was a tawdry and forgivable sin, it was still completely unnecessary. You don’t have to be 30 years old or go to college to know not to tell lies…. (Even if those lies are how business is done in the sport. I want Dave Ryan to have his job back.) It took a lot diminish my admiration for Lewis, the boyband-style racing driver, but seeing him turn a cold shoulder to Rob Dennis did the job.

Would Lewis be anywhere in the world without Dennis’ patronage? Consider some of the Lewis scandals that Dennis had to sit through, all after years of investment in the young driver:

� The quali pissing match in Hungary

� The Safety Car pacing error in Japan

� The pitlane in Canada

After all this, Lewis takes the championship and then turns his back on Ron Dennis, just because Max Mosley wants him to?

Lewis is gifted, but it will be very hard to become a fan again.

#4/Rubens: I think it’s Barricello who has problems with starts, just as he did in the ’90s.

#1/Jenson: I think JB is more about smooth style than about Schumacher-type aggression. Smooth driving suits the BGP 001. One reason to enjoy this season is that the man and the machine really seem to have been made for each other.