What a riveting season this year's Formula One championship has been. The title quest seems unwilling to attach itself to the two leading championship contenders. Will Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton win an unprecedented 8th title, or will Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen abscond with his first? The so called Mercedes circuits have gone to Red Bull, and the Red Bull strongholds have been opportunistically snatched by Mercedes. This is one of the best seasons that we can ever recall. 
    Many a pundit has previously suggested that Max will succumb to the pressure as Lewis has won the championship multiple times before. We don't subscribe to this ideal. Max is mentally extremely strong, unperturbed by outside influences, and hence unflappable. Remember he started F1 only 2 years after winning the World Karting Championship. Many a karting champion has not been able to cut it in formula categories, but not Verstappen. Besides you don't become world karting champ without withstanding pressure, as it's impossible to control the race and win by 20 seconds or more like you can in other categories. The competition is always right there behind you waiting to pounce on any mistake. With five F1 races left to go, it's refreshing to read that many of these pundits have changed their tune. Hamilton could still very well win this year, and Max will be just as unflappable. He knows he'll have his day. Do you think that Max is a once in a generation driver?
    Tomorrow morning's (Australian time) Mexican Grand Prix could present an intriguing scenario. Mercedes have surprisingly locked out the front row with Red Bull on the second row at a so called Red Bull circuit. Max's team mate Sergio Perez is Mexican and a national superstar. Imagine a situation where Perez could be in a position to win the race, but told to let Verstappen pass for the sake of the championship? Bold and brazen to say the least. But how will the Mexican fans react?

    Undoubtedly Netflix's intriguing series "Drive To Survive" covering Formula One's behind the scenes machinations has provided a wider comprehension to us seasoned fans, but also attracted a vast number of new fans to this fascinating sport. People have mentioned to us that they never considered watching F1. Drive To Survive has changed all that. Now they wait with baited breath for the next instalment of F1 racing. Broadening F1's fanbase and keeping them enthralled has prompted the governing body to refresh the weekend's racing format. Introducing  Saturday Sprint Qualifying Races. 
    In 2021, 3 events will have a Saturday 100km sprint race which will determine the starting grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Two held at European events, mooted at the British and Italian GP's. The third at an overseas event, possibly the Brazilian GP. To summarise, Friday will consist of Free Practise One of 60 minutes duration, followed by Qualifying as we currently know it to set grid positions for Saturday's sprint race. Saturday will comprise Free Practise Two and the 100km Qualifying Sprint Race in the afternoon which sets the grid positions for the Grand Prix itself. Sunday will feature the Grand Prix as always. The Saturday race will have no compulsory pit stop and championship points will be awarded to the top three place getters. 3 points for first, 2 for second and 1 for third. We won't go into the tyre allocation restrictions at this point, but the top 10 qualifiers do not have to start the GP on the tyres with which they qualified on. The cars enter parc ferme conditions before qualifying on Friday.
    The Saturday sprint races could potentially add some favourable or perhaps not so favourable tangents to the weekend. The cars towards the back of the grid will certainly be racing as hard as possible to improve their starting positions for the Grand Prix. But what of the guys in the middle or even the front of the grid? If you're starting in P8, are you liable to send one up the inside of the car in front with two laps to go, knowing in the back of your mind that improving your grid spot by one place will still have you starting on the fourth row for the GP? Would the guys starting on the front row dice just as hard into Turn 1 knowing that if they took each other out, they would be starting at the back of the grid for the GP? While we hope parc ferme conditions after Friday practise will relieve the team's mechanic's workload, a crash in the sprint race will put them back under the pump. Contrarily, would the drivers starting in say P4 or 5 race as hard as they would in the GP knowing that an improvement at the chequered flag would not only move them closer to the front for the GP grid, but also garner them championship points? Or simply, once the lights go out, would racing drivers just be racing drivers and let the red mist descend? The unknown to us humble punters will be fascinating.
    The current knockout qualifying session builds the tension up nicely, so we're pleased that that remains. Now we have extra racing to escalate the excitement. We as fans are the winners. Edge of the chair stuff eh?
        

    We are in the midst of Formula One history being made and unprecedented dominance. Mercedes have now compiled 7 Constructor's Championships on the trot. Their star driver, Lewis Hamilton has now accumulated 7 Driver's Championships equalling the great Michael Schumacher and in the process become F1's most winningest driver which currently sits on 95 victories. Now it's been announced that he is set to be honoured with a knighthood. Is the Mercedes/ Hamilton juggernaut to be stopped?
    With the New Year commencing and another F1 season beckoning, we found ourselves in a moment of reflection. Who are the greatest F1 drivers of all time? Afterall, F1's inception dates back to 1950. Many a F1 pundit much more learned than us has stated that it's nigh on impossible to compare eras in Grand Prix racing considering differences in machinery, type of circuits raced and number of GP's contested each season and so on. However, we think otherwise.
    When assembling our top 10 greatest F1 drivers list, some drivers simply make the list through sheer weight of numbers. Number of wins, number of championships for instance. We also considered their winning percentage against number of GP's entered which does stand the test of time. Lastly, we took into account their ability to develop their car and extract the maximum performance. 
    So here is our list of top 10 F1 drivers of all time in no particular order....
    - Lewis Hamilton.
    - Michael Schumacher.
    - Juan Manuel Fangio.
    - Ayrton Senna.
    - Jim Clark.
    - Jackie Stewart.
    - Niki Lauda.
    - Alain Prost.
    - Fernando Alonso.
    - Jack Brabham.
    It would be remiss of us not to mention a few drivers who just missed out on our list. Alberto Ascari, Stirling Moss, Nelson Piquet, Graham Hill, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Petersen and Sebastian Vettel.
    There you have it. Predictable? Possibly. Controversial? Maybe. Debatable? Definitely. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
​    May you all have a wonderful New Year and we'll be back as soon as possible. Cheers....
    
    
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