Sitting watching qualifying for the Valencia Grand Prix, from sunny Trapani, Sicily, I was struck by two things. The first being that my ability to say ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ in the crudest of Italian accents left me ill equipped to deal with the rigours of Italian F1 commentary. The other was that even without the benefit of any bilingual tendencies, it was impossible not to recognise the sound of support for the Ferrari pairing of Fernando Alonso and Filipe Massa.

The support was clear yet strangely unfamiliar after having become more than accustomed to commentary from a British Broadcasting Corporation, whose ode to impartiality seems to go amiss when the Formula One circus roles into town. While the Berlusconi brigade lend support to their chosen warriors, under the murky skies of White City, the walls are closing in fast. With the closing of BBC 606, the priority remains to get people to the website and to get them there often.

You may in fact be wandering how on earth you ended up here, but bar this little haven of webdom, the point remains that web traffic is king. To maintain that steady stream of hits on the beeb, it would appear that a pantomime villain is needed – enter Messer Hamilton. His name alone accounts for approximately 40-50 percent of the content and 100 percent of the criticisms.

Word count is king in this land, no-matter the level of repetitiveness. And just as how the 606 boards were dominated by Hamilton ‘discussion points’, so the main website is itself under pressure to retain the loyalty of those free spirited ranters: hence a leaning towards content of a similar vein. Similar in that beyond the headlines and repetitive articles lies a bitter loathing at the idea of inevitability; for it is indeed inevitable that even with set backs of late, Lewis Hamilton throughout his career will leave both opponents and doubters in his wake.

In this most modern of coliseums, Lewis Hamilton is the spectacle that puts food on an F1 journalists’ table, yet most would be loathe to invite him round for dinner. Indeed, Paul Weaver of the Observer points out that Lewis Hamilton remains the sports biggest draw whose actions have the greatest cause and effect.

Sebastian Vettel is by no means a bit part player mind. There was a sense of inevitability too about his seventh pole in eight races, as that finger keeps on waving. Vettel though is not short of plaudits, both in his homeland and in the UK. In fact his mistakes have been presented as mere signs of him being human rather than human error. While such assertions are perfectly reasonable they only highlight the spotlight can fall more harshly on some than it does others.

As the driver Gladiators go to war today in the Valencia Grand Prix, those baying for blood with only tiny blackberry’s and even narrower outlooks at their disposal would do well to remember that for all the accusation, all the hyperbole and barrage of criticism, they will never be the show. Such is the inability to effect the mind of an individual trained to win – born to win in fact – that the question of false grandeur must arise. 

In a time where the threat of cuts to the BBC roster remain very real one, the current ‘cut and paste’ generation of journalist, it will only ever be their job to write about it all with ever diminishing degrees of talent and a misguided love of The Corporation.

2011 could well see the three-stopper become one of this seasons must haves. Yet there is every chance that one of Italy’s marquee brands may not have enough shoes for the party.

There’s always a trend in F1, and one most likely to become a hit is the constant changing of black boots. McLaren and Mercedes may have just set a precedent that isn’t so much legal as it is essential to those with genuine title ambitions in 2011.

When Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo stressed how ’crucial’ the next few weeks are likely to be for his team’s hopes of fighting for the championship, he could have been excused for the type of dramatics that come rather easily for him.

The season has so far seen teams on the cusp of qualifying drop-out, with the likes of Ferrari being forced to reluctantly use up some of their precious soft tyre allocation – which would ideally be kept for Q3 – just to get out of Q1. In doing so Ferrari risk being pinned down to a strategy that could make them an also-ran for the foreseeable future.

As Sebastian Vettel proved in first practice yesterday, Turn 8 is a challenge like no other on the Formula 1 calendar. It provides some of the toughest challenges for tyre wear, though with Istanbul Park largely consisting of some very technical slow to mid-speed corners, the challenges

There’s a well-known adage that you have to pay to play. Despite the resource restriction agreement, Ferrari seem intent on spending their way out their current problems. With the highest reported budget of 199m, that chart topping level of expenditure doesn’t set to decrease any time soon.

Whether a change in the wind tunnel will have similar effect on Ferrari’s fortunes remains to be seen. Fernando Alonso has repeatedly called for patience in order to solve the problems with performance.  Today some extra gifts from Pirelli wouldn’t go amiss.

Winning might make you famous but it doesn’t always make you friends. It ensures you’ll be remembered, though it’s the manner in which one wins that marks out those who are ultimately revered. Schumacher’s will to win at all costs meant reverence has not nearly been as forthcoming as respect. For the nature of his sacrifice – which proved to be the ultimate – Ayrton Senna is ultimately worshipped.

Nico Hulkenberg’s herculean performance to take pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix showed that being top of the tree for the first time creates its own heady mix of novelty and euphoria. Translating that approach to a further 71 laps of the Sao Paolo circuit will require depths of mental and mechanical strength that may well prove beyond him and his Williams team.

The young rookie went from a soldier of fortune to a master of chance in but a few laps. Today though he will no doubt witness a sea of inevitable spirit chomping relentlessly at his heals in the form of the four title contenders. A spirit born out of a culture of winning and innate inner-belief that is indeed hard to come by.

While Fernando Alonso may be starting 5^th on the grid, ‘Number 1’ status and absolutely no compromise makes him an intriguing enigma, with his all-out will to win sitting alongside a peculiar undercurrent of personal entitlement. Alonso cares little for the nostalgic narrative and everything for statistics. Aside from the words ‘World Champion’ next to his name, what is written in the press means little to him. What it takes to achieve victory is similarly inconsequential. In Korea it required relentless consistency and ability to keep his Ferrari on track when others were less able to do so. Today staying out of trouble will be his main aim, knowing that real glory only comes in Dubai.

Alonso’s ability to play the long game makes him a perennial threat. His willingness to engage in warfare of the mental kind makes him a master puppeteer. Be it his teammate or the team itself, if Alonso can control it, he can bend it to his will. In the instances he can do neither, he’ll simply kick the door off its hinges, as he reportedly did in China ’07. Alonso isn’t so interested in how he wins so long as he does.

Such is his level of success in shaping his environment that his team-mate Filipe Massa was conquered by half season, with both the press and the FIA willing to forgive by September 8. No matter the controversy, Alonso’s stance stays firm throughout.

For an unflinching approach in the face of adversity there’s also Lewis Hamilton. In that self-assured trait he shares at least some similarity with his former teammate. To a large extent he does care about public consensus. Hamilton knows his battle for supremacy is a war, not a popularity contest. His Achilles heal to some degree is his desire to leave an indelible mark on the sport. He demands respect for his talents and admiration for his approach.

For the greater part of this season Hamilton has not had the car to match such driving ambition, yet the door hinges at McLaren have stayed on. Then again none of us were privy to his quarters after the premature race end in Singapore. His propensity to focus on the future however, means this seasons list of what-could-have-been turn quickly to what can be. Brazil and Abu Dhabi await.

The televised interview with Mark Webber prior to the Singapore Grand Prix was a telling one. That killer question regarding his newly found killer instinct required a moment to assess his delicate – but ultimately telling – shift in thinking. The question was as provocative as the answer was considered. Is he prepared to be that little bit more selfish in order to win the championship? In one word: yes.

Webber may be missing that warm and fuzzy feeling of support from within the Red Bull camp, yet despite his vocal displeasure, he comes across as a man who knows himself; and one who’s comfortable in his own skin. He is able to provide a context for his numerous hardships and recent successes. Korea’s clash with the barriers and the seemingly constant clashes with his team amount to no more than a hard-knock than a story of hardship for this tough competitor.

A bright November horizon has seen him recalibrate his mental approach to accommodate a distinctly single-minded attitude. That new, more determined version will be required now the season has reached its ultimate biting point. Given his position in relation to Alonso on the grid for the start of today’s race. Webber has been able to see the sunny side up after some very unpredictable weather.

Events as far back as Turkey confirmed not only his right to compete fairly within the team, but the ability to grab destiny by the neck and give it a good talking to if need be. ‘A fair crack at the whip’ is all the Australian has demanded. He has taken care of rest.

Where a notable shift of thinking may have been apparent on one side of the Red Bull garage, Sebastian Vettel’s dominant win in Japan merely confirmed a seemingly uncomplicated yet ultimately demanding approach to racing.

In Vettel’s mind if you win, you win. Winning is exactly what he’ll be required to do from now until Abu Dhabi. Even in the immediate press interview it was pretty clear that his approach and attitude remained unshaken. For all the talk of potential supporting rolls and team tactics playing themselves out for the season run in, Vettel will be given every chance to become the sports youngest champion until that opportunity is no more.

As the ‘future’ of Red Bull racing, the weight of expectation rests heavily on the shoulders of their young protégé. It may not come with a smiley Aussie face but does come with a strong element of support. Vettel being greeted at the garage entrance by Dr Helmut Marko was telling of Red Bull’s commitment to ensuring that his spirits remain high, even in the face of such bad fortune. Vettel has the tools at his disposal to become a future champion, not least the apparent focus of the team. If the rocket ship of an RB6 proves fragile as it has on too many occasions this season, it will be important that his mental approach remains robust enough to deliver on that long-term expectation.

Amongst drivers, any cracks in the armoury garner short supplies of sympathy at the cutting edge of the season. Thoughts of anything other than number 1 will prevent that same number finding its way onto the front of said drivers car. The idea of a winning mentality as an easily manageable construct is one of pure misconception. There’s no ‘I’ in team but there are two in winning.

The remains of a bygone era are more than evident around the historical Monza circuit. With this weeks ruling in the FIA World Motor Sport Council, there were signs that Formula 1’s efforts to enter a world of sporting modernity could possibly come to a halt come end of season re-consideration on the ethereal grey area that is team orders.

Ferrari, a team usually a law unto themselves, went some way to redefining one of the principal rules that they themselves were responsible for initiating back in 2002. The punitive $100,000 punishment for their indiscretions at Hockenheim amount to little more than a slap on the wrist while being seemingly left again to their own devices.

The purpose of convening an FIA hearing to address the matter is for the FIA alone to know. Given the chances of the situation reaching an impasse being as low as Mark Webbers bookie odds, it’s reasonable to assume that both Ferrari and the FIA’s legal team clearly fancying a day out in Paris.

Karun Chandok – while of the opinion that team orders will always have a place in Formula 1 – would do well to assess his own place amongst a field of more single-minded competitors. Team orders have been there since the Fifties, but the Fifties were just that: fifty years ago. The requirements of the fans have changed, as have the pre-requisites of a top-line driver. Given his now customary position in the race commentary box rather than a race seat, it can be said that such gentlemanly conduct reaches little in the way of rewards.

These issues juxtapose quite awkwardly with the level of technically visionary thinking required to play any part in the future. Man builds the machine and it is essential that he stops thinking like one. As I’ve mentioned before, allowing for teams to create a level of driver hierarchy is one thing, asking drivers who have made sacrifices to get to F1 only to play second fiddle is another.

Filipe Massa may not be the best example for the latter. Mark Webber on the other hand is. Had he simply bowed to the seemingly common belief that his position as a Number 2 was written in stone, he would not be sitting in a position to potentially win his first world title. He is symptomatic of a new breed of driver that has come too far to settle for even numbers.

McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh made an interesting point in the week regarding Formula 1’s current inability to market itself to new audiences. He noted that while the F1 has much to offer, it really does need to get its act together in more ways than one, and that includes addressing an identity crisis that threatens to sully its credibility as a genuine sporting contest.

Any successful marketer will tell you that to maximise the potential of a product you have to clearly define it. A clear definition of what Formula 1 is or trying to be, seems absent from the CVC business plan.

It’s telling that the most thorough surveys to gage the feelings of the fan base have come from the likes of banks and mobile phone manufacturers. As valid as those surveys are from a data perspective, there has to be desire on the behalf of F1 as a whole to not only ask questions but to listen to answers. Better still, to put some of that feedback to good use.

Successful marketing works on the basic premise of a ‘brand’ knowing its own strengths and weaknesses, not to mention the motivations and desires of their customers. Formula 1 as a brand continues to fail at achieving both. Bernie Ecclestone’s often-wavering position continues to depend on which way the financial breeze blows. With Eccelstone at the helm, there seems a questionable intent on growing the brand while keeping eyes firmly on the ground.

With Ferrari’s encouragement, Fernando Alonso’s all out desire to win finds him more than willing to place his head in the sand. A year from the last visit to Monza finds Alonso once again embroiled in race tampering of which he apparently knew nothing. As an enigma Alonso surely ranks second to none – as highlighted in today’s superb qualifying performance. His will to win uneasily juxtaposes a perceived right to entitlement. Perhaps such an intriguing combination is emblematic of a sport not always known historically for its meritocratic leanings.

Despite these criticisms, Alonso retains a very marketable appeal as a love-hate figure. Human characters are one thing; the consistently competitive character of Formula 1 racing is another. That alone is what will continue to not only draw people in, but also keep them on the edge of their seats. Swapping seats half way through a race just doesn’t seem like so much fun.

Make no bones about it: teams will be shedding both downforce and their inhibitions in the bid to claim one of Formula 1’s greatest prizes. To F-duct or not to f-duct may have been the question since before Spa in fact. Today will show which cards the front runners really have had in hand during this minor bout of poker play. None with the capacity to run the air-stalling device will want to risk allowing their closest competitors getting the jump on them this weekend.

Fastest through the speed traps may well not be fastest amount to fastest on the time sheets, even at a race where straight line speed is traditionally king. Running the f-duct device allows for vastly superior traction through the sweeping Lesmo right-handers not to mention the never ending Curva Parabolica without ceding too much in way of straight-line speed.

It may seem logical choice, but before the team downed tools for an early night, they would have had to consider whether it’s the system for maximum attack, both at the beginning of the race and cars running close quarters during the race itself

Performance under braking is a primary concern, which might prove to be a little skittish. For the most confident of drivers, a skittish car should be relatively easy to tame. How the tyres bear up over a race distance is another matter, so the heavy fuel running will have been of even more importance than at many tracks.

The stability of tyres gaining better traction could also be telling. A more stable tyre lasts longer so goes the theory. A one or two-stop race could rest on the borderline decision on downforce and it’s affects on sustained tyre performance. The F-duct teams will be looking to ensure that such performance translates into a clean 1-stop strategy. There are little doubt drivers using the lower downforce option will be hoping to do the same, though the variables increase somewhat with the any lack of stability under braking or loss of traction.

The last of the classics ushers in the age of the uncertain after Monza for McLaren, who know all to well that even with a notable performance upgrade expected in Singapore, a win this weekend is what’s needed to propel their championship charge forward.

Since the return from the summer break, Lewis Hamilton has shown no uncertainty of his will to win in Belgium and Italy. Such desire has brought him half way to achieving his goal. After Friday practice his ambition seems more than achievable, as McLaren appear the best prepared team; confident in their cars inherent performance and the knowledge they will have gathered running on varied fuel loads.

McLaren have covered their bases as much as could be expected. They find themselves in the healthiest of dilemmas in being able to run their cars both in both high and low set-up configurations. To defend from in front will be easier than it seems – even considering the straight-line deficit of running so much wing – as mid corner performance is making up for any deficit.

Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull topping the time sheets in P2 might suggest more reason for confidence on their part, shortages of water and mid-corner balance for Webber and Vettel respectively might be the smallest signs that this may not be one of their finest weekends.

Force India will be hoping to repeat last season’s Italian result. Given the competitive nature of the field, to be anywhere near the top 5 will be a sterling result for them. Renault continues to harbour ambitions of a strong weekend. Without the lottery that is the weather, solid top 10 finishes will be also they can reasonably expect.

Under the bluest of skies, the Italian Tifosi only sees red. Whether black and white flags are their calling will largely depend on where McLaren are over the remainder of the weekend. This may be Ferrari’s home race, but it remains to be seen whether the top step also proves to be theirs.

The inconsistencies of the weather in Spa served if anything to highlight the tiny inconsistencies in driver performance that ultimately make the difference between a place on the podium, an early bath and all things in between.

Whether Lady Luck, her less favoured counterpart Bad Luck or even the hand of the Lord was in attendance last week could be an area for endless debate. The racetrack in the Ardennes Mountains has always been a beautiful picture of unpredictability. To leave ones destiny in the hands of such fickle fortune tellers is to go against the reason why each of the twenty-four competitors don their helmets.

It’s said that fortune favours the brave. If such an adage is indeed true, then Lewis Hamilton’s position on the podium can be easily explained. Mark Webber continues to any idea of bad fortune with typical Aussie grit. The contentment he feels at having kept a firm hand on the destiny tiller is palpable whenever he speaks these days. He seems a man happy to be in a position to make his own luck. Barring any team intervention over the remainder of the season Webber will be hoping to make the most of that good fortune paid for by years of struggle.

In what is amounting to essentially a mini championship with an ever-smaller number of contenders vying for the crown. Three of the five protagonists had ultimately fruitless weekends that could be put down to bad luck of some form.

Sebastian Vettel continues to air his proverbial driving laundry in the spotlight that is the front of the grid. It is worth remembering that mistakes are part and parcel of the experience, and it is easy to forget that he has been in the sport for only 3 seasons. But or all the criticism his erroneous driving has deserved in recent months, a driver with such obvious talent is more than capable of ironing out those unsightly triple creases before long.

Speed on the track will need to be matched by an increased speed in judgement if Vettel is to become the driver the Red Bull are hoping for. So far there have been more mental than mechanical failures to speak of on Vettel’s part. Both will have to come to an end soon if he is to become the sports youngest world champion.

From young pretender to elder statesmen: Rubens Barrichello – in his 300th race – may well have been excused for not knowing how much water was at the bus stop but the same cannot be said the Red Bull driver.

Jenson Button’s ability to keep his nose clean of late has had as much to do with his driving traits as it has to circumstance. Button has never really been the type to pick a fight with drivers willing to throw mud. Couple that with a seeming inability to wrestle either a recalcitrant McLaren or the rest of the grid into submission means any idea of Button becoming a two-time world champion may well remain just a British media dream.

Follow the misfortunes of Fernando Alonso’s event-laden outing back far enough and you find him on his first and second runs in Q3. Alonso sighted the decision to run a set of used options for the first run as the reason for his poor grid position in Belgium. Being unable to improve on that time on new tyres meant tenth place, which in Spa meant entering a lottery of slim odds.

With six races to go, every set-up decision, every result in practice, qualifying and race will be magnified. Talent, determination, lots of reliable horsepower and even more downforce are needed to win this championship. If the drivers want luck they had better bring their own.

Consolidation is never the most glamorous of words in the vocabulary of a team fighting for the Championship. Be that as it may, ‘consolidation will be the name of the game for McLaren this weekend, who spent the greater part of their summer holidays licking their wounds after a race to forget in Hungary.

As with all beasts with more than a smidgeon of fight in the veins, McLaren are intent on coming out fighting in Belgium. Knowing that to lose sight of the leaders in the development race could be critical for the season run-in means mistakes will count double.

Points benefit the brave also, not that the standings do much to prove that theory. They will be the first to admit that Spa and Monza are more than welcome sights, as unlike seasons of old, McLaren have been unable to build a car capable of its usual fleet footedness around tighter, slower corners.

Such problems will arise if you build one of the longest cars on the grid, though as we’ve all come to realize, early season problems getting the cars into the factory lifts have been the least of their problems.

If we were privy to the events of four weeks ago, we would have found head scratching drivers, engineers and mechanics alike on either side of the garage. While McLaren may not have had much time to rebuild their house, they have managed to do a bit of tidying up – call it a late summer clean if you will – at a track they hope will be kinder to them in tomorrows race.

The factory may have shut down but brains will have been working overtime over the course of the summer break. As I had mentioned earlier this season, the productivity of all that freshly sunned grey matter will be in the end what makes the difference – now more than ever.

A new front wing for cleaner airflow and essential tweaks to the top bodywork in order to allow the lower elements of the rear wing to do their job more effectively. Add to that the now numerous iterations of the infamous blown diffuser, and there lies the combination what will have to keep Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in the proverbial hunt until Singapore.

Today’s qualifying results – particularly Hamilton’s sterling front row grid spot – will give them every hope of staying in the mix until they can once again take the fight to Red Bull. Both will receive the updates that in reality will be their main hope of championship salvation.

With all the talk of flexing front wings, and without an intended pun in sight, something will have to give before long. Consolidation may be the word on the lips, but the racing heart of McLaren is still set on full attack.

The oldest team have proved themselves to be in many ways, relics of an age Formula 1 needs to ensure it sees the back of.

With the nonchalance and continued arrogance of true elder statesmen the men from Maranello seem content – and suitably empowered – to write and read from what appears to be their own rulebook. And rewrite the rulebook they just might manage as we await the ruling – sorry did I say ruling? I meant ambiguous positioning – of the World Motorsport Council.

A tale of differing ideology amongst the rule makers, nothing new in a world of ever shifting goal posts. Ferrari seem able to withstand the negative hits of the last week – mainly because they seem anaesthetized to all external criticism – whether Formula 1 as a spectacle can stand up to the same scrutiny is questionable. As for the drivers, who are neither steeped in a team’s history nor blessed with their longevity.

While few question Fernando Alonso’s ability as driver, His position as a great champion is under far greater scrutiny. The manner in which Alonso portrayed Sunday’s on track events went against what everyone of us observed from either the grandstand, or in my case, an old 4×3 television screen. His ability to call a spade a candy coated donut must again call into question his knowledge of events that transpired in Singapore 2008. Alonso knew nothing then either.

Telemetry, radio transmissions and common sense lend themselves to a different story. If what Alonso told the stewards was indeed what he told the press, then Ferrari got off lightly in front of a governing body that has come down hard on dishonesty in recent years. $100,000 may have been all the money the team had in their pockets at the time.

Despite the team orders hullabaloo this really isn’t as simple a case as it was in 2002: Felipe Massa was not simply faster and then told to drop back a place like Rubens Barrichello had been. A slight difference in circumstance did not stop Barrichello from exhibiting a bit of empathy for an almost identical cause.

The fact that Alonso had the performance edge over Massa in the race provided Ferrari with only the smallest of saving graces. Statistics have by and large done nothing to quell the levels of disappointment felt by fans of F1. If Alonso was faster I personally expect him to prove it. What I don’t expect is hand waving and gesticulation of the type I see in summer traffic jams. In other words, I expect a fight.

According to McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh “We have moved into a rule which perhaps goes against the history of F1. There are team interests, there is a constructors’ world championship.” He would have done well to add there are fans that pay good money travelling air land and sea and who turn on televisions, which in turn bring sponsors. Sponsors bring money. Money funds teams, so as Pat Fry rightly called it early this week that such logical reasoning makes the fans the ultimate customer.

Teams and teams bosses who think different need a reality check. That reality involves looking to the future, not dwelling on a sense of the past that has no bearing on the modern demands on the present. The convoluted concept of gentlemanly conduct and in-team manipulation must end at 13.00 on a Sunday.

A year and a week on from an accident that could have done more than end his participation in the most dangerous of sports, Massa was quoted as saying he doesn’t just exist to race; he exists to win. It is a right that he fought long and hard for, but not only that, it’s something that we’ve come to expect. A race to the flag – that is the only team order the fans want to see.

In their quest for mechanical grip British Grand Prix, Red Bull overlooked the mechanics of the mind. The resulting fallout has left them with much to think about over the remainder of the 2010 season.

No sooner had I written of the potential lack of inter-team driver headlines, Adrian Newey and Christian Horner went and wrote their own in a situation that could so easily have been avoided. It’s not often that a team can win so emphatically – as they did on the weekend – while claim more headlines for their route to implosion.

Their decision to take bits of one car and bolt them onto another may have made sense from a purely technical perspective but was a disaster from every other angle you can imagine.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh put it down to the inexperience of consistently fighting for the championship. The truth is probably even simpler than that.

Inter team rivalry is what makes Formula 1 – and in fact most if motor sport – unique to almost every other competitive discipline. The modern driver is ably equipped for that fight. What he can’t accept is not having a fair crack of the whip. Barrichello accepted it at one stage in his career, but does so no more. Mark Webber is of too strong volition to except anything other than a fair crack: especially at this stage of his career.

Numbers and data crunching may have indeed done the talking as to who got the prized front, but they don’t scream loud enough. If Horner has learnt one thing this weekend, then finding the time to have a word in the ear with his drivers over the decisions he takes on a race weekend will prevent having both his ears torn off.

To be privy to Webber’s discussion with his team principle would have been to witness an exercise on in-house firefighting. They had better hope those flames have been doused for the remainder of the season, because with their competitors putting up such an intense challenge, the last thing Red Bull need is one of their own causing havoc in their proverbial China shop.

Ding ding. Seconds out, Round 10.

We have the Battle of Button, sorry Britain. The return of the Red Bull’s to what is becoming a favourite hunting ground of theirs, and a still simmering Ferrari seeking revenge.

In the middle of it all we have the Don King of motor racing, Damon Hill. He’s been talking about tortoises, musing over hares and generally provided some obscure yet inflammatory references about the mindset of the modern F1 driver.

Distinctive grooming regimes aside, I never did see Hill and King having much in common, though when you’ve seats to fill a World Cup Final and Bernie Eccelstone’s pay demands to contend with, some people will say anything.

It’s been a week of talking up rivalries and playing down tensions. What has been of particular interest is how little is understood by fans and media alike of the mentality of the modern driver.

The time of clear team favourites have gone. They died with Alonso’s departure from Renault in 2006, though it perhaps took him the whole of 2007 to realise it.

There isn’t a driver in the paddock who doesn’t expect competition – stiff competition at that. The type of intense rivalry that would cause many of us to blow a fuse and throw an Alex Ferguson-style teacup or two.

Driving skills aside, these are some the main reasons we’re ill equipped for immersion in such pressures, and barely equipped to talk about them.

Fierce competitive spirit needn’t lead to animosity. Bad energy has never made a team work better together or a car go faster. Drivers know that, teams and team principles know that. Maybe the rest of us need to catch on.

When Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button say they get on, off the track, there should be no reason to not believe them. When Mark Webber says he’d save Sebastian Vettel from the ocean, we can give him the benefit of the doubt. Mouth to mouth might not be on offer, but how much love do we expect to see.

If a driver wants to win, then beating the other side of the garage is part of that parcel. It doesn’t mean he has to bite pieces out of his teammate for him to do it. The rest of us could do better things with our time than circling, just waiting for the carcasses. There might just never be anything really juicy to eat.