Motors and Me

Am I prescient or what? Manager says Kubica now on the market Kubica, who has been with the team since the 2006 season, had a contract with BMW until the end of 2010, but the team's exit has left the Pole's future in an uncertain position. However, his manager Daniele Morelli made it clear that Kubica is now open to offers. Good luck to the lanky Pole. If it weren't for Massa's quick recovery from the spring incident , I'd have said Kubica was an obvious choice for the Ferrari seat, but I'm no longer sure he's going to be needed. Pity.

My heart goes out to Robert Kubica. This time last year, he was fighting for the F1 world title. At one stage, he even led the championship . Things were going brilliantly for him, he was driving well and people were saying some very good things about him. Fast forward to 2009 and where is he? Nowhere. Where's the press coverage and hype about his talents? Nowhere. It's as if he's fallen off the face of the planet. What went wrong? From what I've read, halfway through the 2008 season, BMW decided to shift their development efforts to the 2009 car, despite the success they were enjoying in 2008. The effect of this was that their 2008 season quietly tailed off, taking their #1 driver from championship leader to frustrated also-ran. If I were Kubica, I would've been mad as all hell. What makes it even worse is that, while Honda adopted the same approach and built a pretty awesome car for 2009, BMW completely failed to capitalise on their long development time for...

Sick to death of the FIA yet? I certainly am. While McLaren lost all their constructors’ championship points for 2007, were fined $100m, and still have to wait till February for permission to compete in 2008, Renault have got away without penalty for the same crime. I used to think the FIA had a pro-Ferrari bias, but now I’m starting to think they’re just anti-McLaren. Elsewhere, and related to this fiasco, there’s a chance UK viewers might see Martin Brundle’s access to information for ITV’s coverage restricted next year. All because he spoke his mind in the Sunday Times . In fact, they’ve even issued a writ against him (which will fail). Thankfully, he’s not backing down . Go on there, Martin, son. Stick the boot in. :)

Lewis Hamilton: the next Michael Schumacher. Discuss. You might think I’m talking about his talent, but it’s more than that. I’ve yet to see anything from the lad to suggest that he’s anything more than a machine. A personality-free zone. Granted, he’s being kept away from the press to a large extent, but whenever you do see him interviewed, there’s so little humanity there. You get the feeling he never really had a chance to grow up properly and, as a result, all the interaction he knows is polite media talk. There is no Lewis Hamilton. Okay, that might be a little harsh, but honestly, I feel sorry for him. Long term, I also feel sorry for the sport if this is what it takes to win. In so many ways, he appears to be the Tiger Woods of F1. Can Britain ever really take someone like that to its collective heart? I don’t know. Don’t we prefer our sporting superstars to be human? Wayne Rooney, for example. Ronnie O’Sullivan. Jenson B...

You’ve got to feel for Heikki Kovalainen . Watching the Australian GP in the wee small hours of Sunday morning, I was beginning to wonder whether I’d drifted off to sleep and somehow found myself in someone else’s nightmare. Time and again he’d have an off. To be honest, were it not for Kovalainen’s antics, Coulthard’s rush of blood and the possibility of Lewis Hamilton winning his debut GP — well, it seemed possible until Alonso passed him at the second pit stop — this would have been another seriously dull race. As it was, it was merely dull. So, once again, I question my sanity for watching F1. I used to feel like this when I had my Newcastle United season ticket in the Souness era. In that case, however, I was able to tear myself away and I gave up the seat. With F1, I’ve never been able to give it up and I doubt I ever will. One glimmer of hope for the season ahead: Raikkonen. I really hope he storms away this season. He...

Ralf Schumacher demoted 10 grid places for next GP [BBC Sport] That's a touch on the harsh side, if you ask me. Amazingly, only Ron Dennis tells it as it is for once, putting it down to nothing more than a racing incident. Wonders may never cease.

Many years ago, my mother established the tradition of getting me a motoring-related calendar for Christmas. She’s still doing it, despite the fact I’ve told her I have no use for calendars outside of Outlook. The best thing I can say for them is that they usually put a nice picture on a small area of the wall for a year. Unfortunately, in 2003, that picture will be of a Formula 1 car. All year round, I’m going to be reminded of how little I now enjoy a sport that used to have me captivated. From time to time, I’ll even get to smile wryly at the Arrows F1 car staring out at me. *sigh* You know, I really don’t enjoy F1 these days. The only thing about it that I can look forward to is Jacques Villeneuve venting everyone’s frustrations or making a stupidly daring overtaking manoeuvre. That man personifies everything that used to be great about the sport and now he’s pretty much the only fire left in its belly. Shame, damn shame.