Bridgestone are still planning to force teams to use two different tyre compounds during a race. The poll on itv-f1.com suggests that fans simply aren’t interested in this manufactured attempt to produce excitement. As much as Formula One is an automated sport, for most of us this is one step too far towards the artificial. With Schumacher gone, everyone’s looking forward to close and equal racing (even within the Ferrari team). Bridgestone feel they have to do something due to the lack of true competition from Michelin. Nothing can recover that particular challenge, but I think without the two-compound rule we could still have some interesting results. What has been emerging from the tests is that some drivers, and some teams, are coping better than others getting to grips with the new tyres. In particular Alonso and Kubica, with their aggressive turn-in style, are struggling, whereas Button is enjoying them. Most of the teams knew Michelin were leaving (probably since Indianapolis 2005), but they can’t have had the chance to develop their cars around the new tyres as well as those previously with Bridgestone. So, what I’m suggesting is that just the challenge of everyone on Bridgestone will be exciting enough this year. The race-long endruance of new rubber for some of the drivers and some of the teams will create a disparity that will give us good racing naturally. There’s no need to force it. And, indeed, this is a problem in general with many of the rule changes coming this year and soon – the engine freeze and aerodynamics etc. They aim to force overtaking and close racing when previous seasons have shown us it is exactly what we can’t control that produces these things.