I have been consulting with some of my non-internet F1 fans and asking them their thoughts for the coming year. One of them is / was a huge Michael Schumacher fan so I thought her opinion would be interesting. One of her friends is also a huge Schumacher fan. And they have both, independently decided to throw their lot in with the same driver.

Felipe Massa.

But surely, I said, you can’t expect him to beat Kimi this year?

Her answer was simple, she said nobody knew about this year. That in the fall out post Michael almost anyone could win this year. But that what she wanted was to not have to change horses very often so when she chose Massa she wanted security for the next five years. And she thought that Massa would be the man to win most in those five years.

Now I’ve always liked Massa. And I don’t think he’s faster than Kimi now. But you’ve got to look at the care and attention that Todt is putting into him and think… Actually she might have a point.