There better be a triumphant return...

I was very pleased to read that my new main man, Kamui Kobayashi, found a decent ride and has signed for the recently revived Sauber sans BMW team. I look forward to his fun style of racing and possibly pissing off smooth kings of driving like World Champ J. Button.

Other than that I am as "over the moon" as little old Bernie Ecclestone is with all the stories I continue to read about Michael Schumacher's supposed return to F1 with Mercedes GP. When you are reading stories with Luca di Montezemolo talking about how in his eyes it is Schumacher's "twin" that will be racing for the Silver Arrows next season you can only assume gears are turning and Schumi really is on the verge of coming back.

I just love it!

If Schumacher does in fact return to the grid I wonder if Jenson Button will be kicking himself in the ass for not staying with Brawn... if it was a challenge he was really after.

While very few will debate that Lewis Hamilton is a great driver who will win more championships in the future, even fewer will debate that Michael Schumacher is a force of racing nature.

If Button wanted a same-machine challenge going head to head with Schumacher would have been the wisest choice on his part considering he apparently wants to be chewed up and spat out by his team mate. While I am rather confident Lewis will not have much of a problem doing this to JB, Schumacher would humiliate Button in a way that Max Mosley has to pay to receive.

I understand the main reason Schumacher is being poached is because Mercedes GP want to start their re-introduction to F1 with a beastly German super-team, on top of having the means and will to procure such a talent. If this were still Brawn GP there would be far less of a chance they'd be knocking on Schumi's door, even after letting their champion go to McLaren and their old reliable saunter on over to the Williams pasture to graze. Maybe they would? Maybe Schumacher would still have come back had the team been Brawn and not Mercedes? I don't know.

All I do know is I am excited to see Schumacher either live up to his fans expectations of a come back or fail miserably. I also know if after achieving world champion status if the next step in Button's personal career path was to try to go head to head in the same car with someone he deemed to be a worthy adversary that Michael Schumacher is the man to try to prove something against.

Toyodor

Well, it is 2am round about now and I keep reading very loud whispers about Toyota pulling out of F1 with immediate effect and just closing the team down. Not selling it. No nothin'. Just game over.

I'm bummed in a sense since Toyota looked like they were making some progress. I had always hoped they'd secure at least one win... but doesn't look like that is going to happen now.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't even really give a fiddler's fart about it all had stupid Timo Glock not skinned his knee and vertebrae and opened the door for that loveable and adorable ragamuffin Kamui Kobayashi to go racing.

I have absolutely no 100% solid reason as to why this guy amuses me as much as he does, other than the fact that he's pissed off Button and driven hard in his two races and managed to pick up some points quite quick. I just hope the guy has found a few supporters inside the F1 circle and can hopefully land a ride with one of the new teams.

Hell... Sauber's probably got a seat open now that they are a team again saying they had a provisional spot and now that Toyota's about to call it a day. Come on Peter Sauber. Kamui Kobayashi is worth a shot. This incarnation of Sauber wouldn't even be stepping up to go racing had Toyota not just pulled out.

However, for all I know the management at Toyota were just saying Kobayashi would get the drive next year since they knew their team was toast. Trying to do The Kob a favor, raising his stock.

Either way, I hope Mr. Kobayashi finds a ride next year. Obviously the guy has made a good impression on me and I am very suspicious of Japanese F1 drivers in general. They never seem to deliver... yet this guy has my attention for some reason.

Lastly, I'm glad Max Mosley's prediction of the manufacturers making a semi mass exodus is finally coming true. As crazy and stupid as some folks thought Mad Max was, you can't say the guy didn't know what he was talking about even if the reason the manufacturers are leaving are for different reasons than Mosley predicted. Or not.

Max probably didn't expect to be on his way out with the manufacturers however I am glad he had the foresight to get the costs lowered and get Cosworth back.

The Kob

I like Kamui Kobayashi. He is goofy looking. He smiles a lot. He gives entertaining and candid interviews and most important he is a balsy, aggressive driver... but doesn't appear to be a "crazy" or "wild" driver like I always felt Takuma Sato was. Hopefully he will get a drive with Toyota next year. Hopefully Toyota will still be in F1 next year.

Earlier today I was reading some articles about who goes where next year. The topic of USF1 was brought up, how they want to promote American drivers yet there are no Americans currently holding a superlicense. I figure Scott Speed probably still has a superlicense. Do they expire? I mean he only got shitcanned from Toro Rosso a year and a half ago. However, maybe the article I was reading meant that any American that USF1 is mildly interested in does not have a superlicense. I suppose that is fine considering old Scott Speed says "I hardly even follow Formula One any more". He's content to keep driving those big old NASCAR shitboxes around ovals while Red Balls foots the bill. I can't say I completely blame him I suppose... though I'd still follow F1.