With all that lengthy intro, my favorite driver in modern F1 has been JPM, sheer talent and sheer genius when it came about car control and uncanny ability to overtake. But I guess he was too much of Old school guy for F1 who preferred to get wife, kids and parents to races rather than “celebrities” and corporate sponsor guests. His exit was case of loss of greatest talent to F1 “Uptightness”.

After I saw the first race of Hamilton when he made those daring movies on track to ruffle, Massa and Alonso, I stood up and took note of possible new JPM. But then the Brit opened his mouth and everytime he did it all that came out was cheap “Trash talk” kind of things that boxers do in prematch press conferences, I flinched back and ever since I have been pretty much backing drivers with pretty much good work ethic and ability to get best out of the car on hand (some thing that Alain Prost used to do when I took to F1 as a kid), so now its Vettel for me. The guy even has a wry sense of humour

John Button – For a) Pink Shirt b) Manpri, he looks ridiculous in that Manpri

Hamilton Sr – Looks as though someone has shoved S^&T down his throat

Lewis Hamilton – Every time he opens his mouth, PR disaster awaits. I sometimes think Lewis should be sent in confinement with Kimi (Mumbles) Raikonnen.

Legard – Yes, He single handedly boosted James Allen’s rating. James was most loathed commentator on ITV team. Now everyone begs for him to return

I recall how he once said in an interview “if I don’t win then it doesn’t matter who does” – that annoyed me. Then at one race this year, there was a yellow flag towards the end of qualifying, and all cars had to slow down, meaning that Jenson couldn’t fight for a higher position. Nico Rosberg’s steering wheel was displaying a message, so he couldn’t see how fast he was going, but Jenson complained about that, saying that he had been speeding under yellow flag conditions. Nico was later cleared off all suspicions, but Jenson hadn’t gotten a higher position, so he took to complaining about drivers instead.

I don’t have a problem with drivers making complaints, but Jenson took it to far in the sense that he complained all day, demanding that Nico be notched down on the grid.

Secondly – love the explanation of how you got to who you support now. Can understand supporting Schumacher as a kid, Hamilton when he first turned up and now Vettel – I love Vettel. I remember that Webber/Vettel crash and remember how upset he was about it – same in Melbourne this year when he crashed into Kubica (?) and radioed in to say he was an idiot and he was really, really sorry. I llike that about him, because so many drivers won’t admit fault. EVER. But he and Sutil are generally really good about admitting blame and apologising when necessary. Also think Red Bull drivers are MUCH more personable because the team is more relaxed, PR-wise.

Thanks so much for commenting!

When I was a kid, watching F1 with my mum, I would have told you Schumacher was my favourite, purely because I was young and I liked supporting someone who won all the time.

I tried supporting British drivers for a while, but it was a stale period for them and there was just no joy in it. It’s different, supporting an underdog in F1 because a triumph is rare. In football an underdog team is going to win at least a few games a season that you can cling onto (I’m saying this, I’m a Manchester United fan ). But with F1 you won’t get that. And I got to the stage where I really couldn’t care less what rock I’d been born on.

Then about the time I really started to care about who I supported, Lewis Hamilton had just started his first season. I liked him a lot. I liked how he was young and just rookie but he wasn’t scared of any other driver, he just went for it. His talent shone through. And to be honest, my mum has always supported McLaren and British drivers, so I felt like we would have something in common. So I started to cheer him on.

But the first real favourite I’ve had is Sebastian Vettel. I remembered him getting so upset about crashing into Webber and I liked that he showed emotion, unlike many other drivers. Then he won at Monza since then I’ve supported him. During that race I just kept thinking, he’s not even that much older than me and he’s doing that! It was inspiring, for someone at 17. And he was so personable, such a friendly character, so different to the others around him. He’s a fantastic driver and I’m sure he’s going to win the WDC sooner rather than later. But what I like most is him as a character. And his smile is so bright, I can’t help but be charmed by him.

That was a bit of an essay, sorry!