So why have I been banging on about Kimi so much these last few days?

The thing is that I’ve always gone on about him right from the very begining as I have about Alonso, Sato and Massa. Sato may come right eventually but I’m including him to show it’s not a completely blinkered view of history.

I loved Michael. I admit it. I thought he was awesome and amazing. And to be honest in that situation in most sports that would mean that I should hate Kimi and Alonso because they were the barstards that pushed him out.

But actually that isn’t the way that it works in F1. I thought Michael was so good that I wanted to see somebody take him on. I wanted to see Michael pushed because if somebody could do that then that would be a sight to see.

And Kimi did it first. He did it before Alonso did it. And sure he didn’t actually beat Michael but he was the first driver to make Michael sit up and notice. Because although I will always rate Mika he won while Michael was weakened by his machinery whereas Kimi pushed Michael while he was on song.

Now Alonso has won twice and part of me would like to point out that in both cases the competition was weakened and that it was less about how good he was and more about how bad the others were doing. And while there was an element of that about 2005 and the begining of 2006 nobody can say that Alonso didn’t win those titles by sheer talent and determination. There was an element of luck and fair winds behind them both but the same could be said for more than half of Michael’s world championships too.

So I want to make it clear I don’t support one driver in Formula One. I have always supported the driver in a race who can keep the championship going until the final race of the season. But…

This year is a very important one for Kimi. He needs to prove that he hasn’t squandered his talent. And more importantly he needs to prove to me that I was right to pick him from the pack all of those years ago.

I’m not saying that I’m going to give him unfair treatment. He’ll still be pushed asunder if he threatens to dominate the season. I just hope he does well.

Oh and I genuinely think it’s going to be a good year for Sato too.