Most sports – either formally or informally – have such tiers. I think it’s part and parcel of any given sport that you follow. The important thing (for me, at least) is that the tiers are not set in stone and provide ample opportunity for both ascent and descent. For all the problems it has caused this time round, period regulation changes, the current addition of new teams and the forthcoming budget caps, will serve to ensure that this remains the case.

My one fear is that the new teams will be so far off the pace that owners and management boards decide that the gaps is too big to warrant pumping in more cash, resulting in teams appearing for a season or two and then disappearing again, leaving a whole on the grid. In this respect, I share Ferrari’s concerns about the quality of F1 becoming diluted and pray that Bernie made the right choices with the entrants he allowed to join F1. It would be a crying shame if we are deprived of Sauber’s continued presence, and to a lesser extent, the presence of a name like Aston Martin (albeit indirectly) on the grid in favour of easy-come, easy-go teams.

Also, I second Stevie P’s comment about the site. I have had this problem recently as well. Despite refreshing, emptying cache, etc, and also accessing the URL from different computers, locations, networks and browsers, there are often periods when it appears that the site has not been updated and then, you check back again, and it turns out you’ve missed 2-3 days of comments and posts. I experienced this week and, to the best of my knowledge, it was the second time that it had happened. Sorry, I wanted to send this in an email to avoid going off topic but couldn’t find the address. Maybe your technical team can use the feedback.

I was just wondering if any of the new start-up teams have invested in redundant ex-employees of downsized current teams alá Brawn (down to 400+ from 750?)?

Surely this will be helpful seeing as they are start-up teams, and have any of these teams pulled a real coup in your eyes and got a guy who could really make a difference? In the same way that Lotus have got Gascoyne?

I happen to think that all these teams have quite interesting backgrounds to them, with each having their own way of going about things (Lotus with the Malaysian govt. investment, USF1 with their American Dream, Manor with their CFD and computers, and Campos with good old fashioned management and a good deal with Dallara)… who’s your favourite to sneak a point next year?

GP2 seems to be getting a bit unreliable in terms of highlighting talent. Kobayashi finishes 16th and impresses in F1, whereas Grosjean, Piquet and di Grassi have not impressed. Petrov was also out performed by Grosjean and di Grassi. Winning the championship in the 1st season (as per Hamilton and Hulkenburg) seems to be the only choice.

You are right on the money with this Rich, the mish-mash of bits and bobs on front wings is ridiculous.

“…aerodynamics drives performance in F1 …” is a recent Mike Gascoyne quote on the Autosport site. Isn’t it time that was changed?