However, in the last couple of weeks there has been growing speculation that he may put in an appearance at the Race of Champions in December as teammate to David Coulthard in the F1 Racing team, something which DC himself was keen to happen (it would certainly help his chances of winning surely!).

However, I didn’t hold out much hope as for whatever reason McLaren seem a bit overprotective of their Boy Wonder.  I remember before he appeared on Top Gear that the BBC had to get special permission for him to be seen driving something that wasn’t a Mercedes (unless that was just gossip) so perhaps the sight of him driving rally cars and allsorts at Wembley wouldn’t fit in with his various contracts.

Anyway, it has been announced that although Lewis will appear at the event he won’t be competing.  Rather than put his title as the fastest driver in the world on the line, he is instead going to be effectively driving against a man on a pushbike.  Even when that man is the fastest cyclist in the world, Chris Hoy, it’s still equivalent to 2.5 horsepower up against probably 300-odd, so it looks like a fair fight!

No doubt one of the things which has made this possible is that Hamilton/McLaren will be able to choose which car he drives (I’d put money on it being German, but not a VW, Audi, Porsche or BMW…) - and as I said previously it’s a race he should win but even if he doesn’t it can all be passed off as a bit of a fun challenge.

I’ve got mixed views - firstly I think it’s good that he is going to put in an appearance in front of the 80,000 British crowd, but I still feel a bit let down that he won’t be doing what he should be doing and that is racing the likes of Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher in equal machinery.

The real kick in the teeth is that one of the highlighted items in the news report I saw was that Hamilton would be finished his demonstration in plenty of time to make it up the road to Liverpool where the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year is taking place on the same night - to me, that would indicate where his/McLaren’s priorities lie…

My uncle Stuart has Down’s Syndrome.

I was going to say he suffered from it, but to be honest I don’t think he does.  Of course, there are things he can’t do which other people can, but he is not as badly affected as others so is able to live a relatively normal life.

Despite the fact he is not too badly off, had the doctors offered my Granny and Granda a choice prior to him being born, of whether they wanted a fully able-bodied and able-minded child or one which would be classed as handicapped then I’ve no doubts about which they would choose.  Most, if not all, people would have made the same choice.

But of course that choice was not presented, and I for one am incredibly grateful.

Being a nephew, I know that I’ve not seen all of the hard work that went into bringing him up and getting him to where he is today - it must have been an incredible burden at times.

We as people are most often scared of what we don’t know.  There’s a noise at night when it’s dark and you are in bed - what is it?  Is it a burglar?  Chances are it’s the sound of something you hear a hundred times during the day but at night when you can’t see anything, any sound takes on a sinister tone.

Similarly, people who think unfairly about other people - those of a different race, or sexuality for example - often take that viewpoint because they don’t actually know anyone like that.  I try my hardest to take an even-minded view on these things, despite not knowing anyone who is gay, coloured or indeed both!

It is a small step to go from a view like this about these people to feeling the same, or worse, about those who are handicapped in some way either physically or mentally.  Haven’t they been dealt a bad enough hand in life without having to deal with small-minded idiots?

Uncle Stuart’s time at school probably wasn’t the best time of his life because of this, but the man I know today is probably the most liked and best-known person I’ve ever met.

Had he not been born with Down’s Syndrome, I can’t honestly say how I would react when around handicapped people - I would like to think I would treat them as fairly as I treat anyone, but I can’t say that for certain.  Having Uncle Stuart as he is though has meant I can see past the disability in others and realise that what is there is really just another human being with the same feelings and emotions as the rest of us.

Because he leads a relatively normal life, it can be easy to forget that he is disabled at all.  By not bearing this in mind, it can be frustrating from time to time if he doesn’t do something you expected him to do - which is unfair as it’s something outwith his control in many ways.  He has never really been treated any different because of his disability and he wouldn’t really want it any other way, but it does have to be at the back of your mind that he is different.

Family is important, and I’m extremely grateful that I have a large extended family.  I find it quite amazing that despite the numbers a very low percentage have any disability at all, which makes Uncle Stuart so much more unique and special.  Were it not for him, who knows how I, and other family members, would feel about people like him - would we be as narrow-minded as others are?

Some people no doubt think that having someone like Uncle Stuart in our family would make our lives poorer as a result.  I can only speak for myself, but I think my life has been enriched beyond measure by his inclusion within it.

There are certain things which happen in your life which are easily identifiable and simple to measure.  If someone gave you £100 for example it is easy to say by how much that gesture made you better off.  But for me, the things which make you a better person as a result are harder to identify and much harder to measure.  Because I feel having someone like Uncle Stuart in my life has made me much more understanding, accepting, tolerant and most importantly respecting of other people no matter how they may appear, what he has brought to me is not quantifiable.

You only live one life so it’s incredibly difficult to say for certain whether one course of action really is better than another - once you have taken one, you can’t always then take the other to see what the difference is.

One thing I am sure of is a life without my Uncle Stuart wouldn’t have been as rewarding as the one with him, and no matter how often I was presented with the choice of with or without him, not once would I be without.

Firstly, congratulations to Lewis for stumbling over the line to take his championship win, but yet again both he and McLaren seemed to be doing their best to throw it all away.  The funny thing with Lewis is that if he decides to forget what he needs and just go for the win then things don’t seem to go his way for one reason or another, but similarly when he tries to drive for what he needs then he tends to come up short.

The post-race chat on ITV included a few people from McLaren who assured us viewers that Lewis had driven well and that he deserved the title, but I still don’t see how they can argue that he deserves it any more than Massa - not that I think the Brazilian has had an amazing year, rather that I don’t think anyone has had a season like that.

Nothing that I’ve seen from Lewis this year has endeared me to him any more - I’m not going to support him simply because he is British, he has to give me reason to support him.  Yes, he has had some really good drives but so have Massa, Kubica, Vettel and Alonso.

At the moment I feel really sorry for Massa - not only did he do what he had to do by winning the race, he crossed the line so far ahead of Lewis that for a good time it looked like he had also won the championship.  To have those highs, followed by the incredible low of hearing that it wasn’t so must have been incredibly hard to bear - not to mention he still had to go up onto the podium and then into the live press conference.

I’ve no idea how that must have felt, but he seemed to handle it as well as anyone could have done.

I also feel sorry for DC as he was so intent on finishing his last race that for him to barely make the second corner must really annoy him.  I dare say he will get over it, being the levelheaded type but it’s still a shame - the way the race panned out it wouldn’t have been outwith the realms of possibility that he could have scored a point or two.  He might even have beat Hamilton 

So, that’s it for another year.  Next year is going to be strange, with no DC on the grid although the rumours are we’ll still be seeing him on our screens.  The big decision to ponder over the winter is who to support from now on though - another driver, or perhaps a team?

As I get to thinking about that, Lewis Hamilton today reinforced the old saying that it’s better to be lucky than good…

The most notable for us here in the UK, is that this will be ITV’s last race covering F1.  While most viewers won’t shed many tears at this news, we do have quite a bit to thank the broadcaster for.

When the races were covered by the BBC previously, they were always shoehorned into a general sport programme and therefore had to battle for airtime which ultimately ensured coverage of the race and little else.  The move to a programme of it’s own on ITV meant we were treated to an hour or so pre-race and approximately half an hour post-race - although not all this coverage was worth the airtime if the truth be told!

Next season, the BBC can’t disappoint F1 viewers and give them any less and the hope is that they will actually end up giving a whole lot more - HD coverage, more interactivity, better online coverage, etc but most important there will be no ad-breaks.

What is to come from the BBC is for a later date however, this weekend is about the departure of ITV.  It’s unclear who, if anyone, will make the transfer between broadcasters to continue coverage next year - the smart money is on Martin Brundle being the only person.  I don’t think anyone else would be missed to be honest, although I do feel James Allen still has a place in the sport.

His writing on the ITV website is always worth reading, it’s his delivery when commentating most people take issue with, so personally I hope he continues following the sport - in written form at least!

Also leaving the sport this weekend is another often criticised recent addition - the grooved tyre.  With two different manufacturers competiting against each other to make the tyres offer more and more grip, the FIA felt they had to introduce something to slow them down a bit, hence the grooves.  With Bridgestone now the sole manufacturer, they have noone to compete against and so therefore the FIA can allow slick tyres to return safe in the knowledge that they can effectively inform Bridgestone what construction and level of grip they want them to have.

Most F1 fans will tell you that the cars look so much better on slicks, and the drivers all seem to agree that they prefer the feel of them as well so unlike the ITV situation, nobody will mourn the loss of grooved tyres next year.

The face of F1 is of course the drivers, and these come and go all the time.  Most leave the sport after a year or two, few seem to spend their whole career in F1 these days, so I’m sure we will be seeing more than one driver leave.

Will Piquet or Bourdais be on the grid next year?  At the moment it seems like it could go either way to be honest, arguments could be made for and against each driver so we will just have to wait and see.

There is going to be at least one long-time driver departing though - David Coulthard.  He warrants a post of his own though so I’ll say little here on that topic, but will he be joined through the exit door by Rubens Barrichello?

I can’t really see why Honda would continue with both Rubens and Button for yet another year, but with Rubens having the better of his British teammate this year should it be the Brazilian who leaves?  His age obviously makes him the most likely to make way, but it’s not like he’s pensionable just yet.  With DC deciding to leave on his own terms, it would be sad to see Rubens forced out kicking and screaming so if he really does think he has more to give then I hope he gets a chance to prove it and leave on his own terms.

Looking at the bare facts, Lewis Hamilton is in the same position as last year with a 7 point lead heading into this final race but in actual fact it’s all different.

Firstly, last year he had had a much larger lead in previous races which had dwindled away due to huge mistakes on the part of Hamilton and his team whereas this year he has actually increased his lead on the way to this race.  That must put him in a much better place mentally.

Secondly, decisions outwith his control seem to be conspiring in his favour - tyre-suppliers Bridgestone have brought tyres which should suit his car better than Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, and it also looks like it will be wet at some point this weekend which again should help Hamilton and McLaren more than Massa and Ferrari.

To me, this all points to Hamilton doing more than enough to win his first championship.  Massa always drives well at his home track so it may be that he manages to pull off the win, but I can’t see Hamilton finishing lower than fifth - if he finishes at all!

A lot has been made of who is under the most pressure. There is bound to be some pressure on Hamilton as he is in the lead and everyone’s talking about how he managed to lose from this position last year, but there’s noone who wouldn’t rather be in his position than Massa’s surely?

Being in Brazil with so many eyes on him, there is an argument that Massa is actually the one with the most pressure on his shoulders but I’m not sure I agree with that.  It depends on the attitude of those supporters of course, but I don’t think many really expect him to do it - they may want and hope he does it, but as long as they are realistic then I don’t see that being at home will increase the pressure on Massa.

In a funny way, I think that had he been just a couple of points behind then that pressure would have been greater as the expectations would have been higher.

No matter who wins the championship this weekend I just hope we get a good race, and a result that takes it down to the wire.  Massa to crash out at the first corner would really make this a bit of a damp squib!  It is also important that we know the true winner by the end of the race, so hopefully everyone will behave to ensure the stewards have a quiet afternoon.

As I’ve said before, I think both drivers and their teams have made far too many silly errors this year for either to be a really great champion - had Alonso been in a more competitive car for the whole season then he would have wiped the floor with both of them in my view.  Therefore, I’m not really too fussed who wins - if it’s Hamilton though, then I won’t be reading a newspaper for a good few years as the hype-machine will milk it for all it’s worth!

Of course, it’s not easy to decide on the right man - and to find one that is available etc, so Mr Storrie was taking a sensible view on things.  This is what he had to say on Sunday :

We won’t rush into appointing a new manager.     Peter Storrie, Portsmouth FC Chief Executive

Earlier today, Redknapp’s assistant while he was in charge, Tony Adams, was appointed as the new manager - a full two days after Harry left.

Good to see they didn’t rush into anything, eh?

I first heard about this at the start of the week, over a week since the show was broadcast, and at that point only two listeners had lodged complaints - and neither of them were actually about the Andrew Sachs phonecall.  Later yesterday, that figure had increased to around 1,500 and it’s now totalled 10,000.

Why is that?   I’m pretty sure Radio 2 won’t have been repeating the show so people are obviously putting in complaints based on what they are hearing on the news.  The coverage has been way over the top in my opinion - yesterday it was the lead story on ITV news, which is understandable as they are always going to revel in any story which goes against the BBC, and today even the Beeb feel they have no choice but to follow suit.  Were they to either not mention it at all, or just mention it briefly then they would be accused of covering it all up therefore making things worse.

At the end of the day, both Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross can really test the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not.  Their fans would argue they have probably done worse in the past, others would say that this time they have overstepped the mark.

Either way, calls for them to be sacked are wildly off target in my view.  Both accept they shouldn’t have done what they did, and have either apologised or are making plans to do so in person.

This story will likely rumble on, with inquiries looming about the whys and wherefores - I can understand why some are confused at how this was broadcast given it was actually pre-recorded rather than transmitted live, however it appears that the clip was played to Mr Sachs over the phone and his permission sought to air it.  He claims the line wasn’t very clear so he couldn’t hear exactly what was said!

Whoever decides what should be reported on the news, and indeed how it is reported, need to realise that they can actually end up interfering with the stories themselves.  There’s no doubts that the reporting of the credit crunch, for example, is perpetuating the problem - while the TV is covered with doom and gloom stories telling everyone it’s a bad time to be spending money, who would go out and do the exact opposite? Not many, that’s for sure.

Similarly in this case, the massive increase in complaints lodged shows that it’s the news coverage which has been the main reason for this increase - and people need to remember what they see on the news is only select clips taken out of context.

The only good thing to come of this was today’s quote from Mr Sachs’ daughter who said :

My father is the world’s most decent man.  To put him up in front of an audience for humiliation is ridiculous.     Kate Baillie

Isn’t that why he is famous?  I think she should take up that argument with John Cleese, not Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross…

His youngest girl was playing up, lifting stuff she shouldn’t have been touching and the like - as kids do - so he was trying to give her a bit of a talking to, which he did by calling her name.

“Denise……DENISE!”

It doesn’t take much I’ll admit, but this had my brain spinning.  How can a 2 year old girl be called Denise?   Surely noone under the age of at least 35 has a name like that?  I’ve no idea why I think that to be honest, but it just seems that certain names are suited to people of certain ages - obviously due to those names being popular and hence common at a certain point in time, which will end up being cyclical with names coming in and out of fashion.

At the moment there are an abundance of Britneys and Kylies who will be old at some stage but at the moment when I hear those names, I immediately think of someone under the age of 10.  When these are all collecting their pensions, who knows what the youth of the day will be called - probably Gertrude, Elsbeth, Harold and Herman no doubt.

It’s a funny old world.

But despite this, perhaps it was actually a good thing as far as he is concerned.

It’s very easy to say that in such-and-such a position I would do X, Y and Z however if it’s all hypothetical then I can never know for sure what I would do.  Once that situation presents itself I may not actually carry out my X, Y and Z plan as I had thought I would, instead opting to go for the A, B, C approach.

In hindsight it may be obvious to me that this was definitely not the way to go, and that if I’m in that situation again I really should just stick to my original X, Y and Z plan.

In Hamilton’s case, X, Y, Z was to keep his nose clean, let Kimi do whatever he wanted and to just make sure he stayed ahead of Massa.  However although he talked the talk before the race, once the situation presented itself he actually decided to take Kimi on and almost took them both out.

Nobody knows what goes on inside his head, I for one have given up trying to second guess anything he may be thinking as it seems an impossible task, but the memories of last week must surely be so fresh in Hamilton’s mind that he can’t help but do the exact opposite this week.

For this reason, I think he will actually stay out of trouble and do what he has to do this weekend - perhaps not enough to win the title in China, but enough to at least ensure he has a lead going to Brazil.

This is only a valid argument though if Hamilton genuinely is capable of learning from his mistakes though, and I’m not sure we’ve seen much evidence to back this notion up!

Whatever happens, I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow and the start in particular.  No matter what he says beforehand, given his terrible start last weekend, Hamilton will be an absolute bag of nerves on the grid and with Kimi having little to play for I would favour him into turn one.

Assuming he has learnt something from Japan, Lewis should let him go - the fireworks will start if Massa or Alonso also manages to somehow squeeze past too, and part of me really wants to see that…

But since getting our kitten, Daisy, I haven’t been getting as much as I used to due to her insistence that someone gets up to feed and play with her whenever she wakes up - which is usually a good hour or two before I’d ideally be liking to waken.

However, it’s not all bad - in fact being up and about an hour earlier hasn’t affected me as much as I thought it might.  In the past, a lack of sleep has always made me grumpy with a longing all day for an early night so I can catch up straight away but that all seems to have left me now.

Except for today, today I just want to go straight to bed and stay there for a week.

This isn’t all Daisy’s fault however, as the weekend turned out to be a bit mad.

Friday night saw me getting to sleep probably around midnight only to then be up to watch qualifying for the GP in Japan at around 5.30am.  Of course Daisy provided that early morning call!

I’m a Keane fan and as they were playing an in-store gig to launch their new album in Glasgow on Sunday night, Kirsty and I were interested in attending.  However, it was a wristband-only event and to get entry you had to pre-order their new album Perfect Symmetry in person at Zavvi in Buchanan Street.  So it was that we headed off for Glasgow straight after quali on Saturday to secure wristbands just in case they had all gone by later in the day.

That night again saw me getting to sleep around midnight only to wake even earlier on Sunday for the GP itself at 4.30am - an alarm was needed for that time, and it was good to finally be the one waking Daisy for a change!

After the race had ended I headed to bed for a nap - which actually lasted almost 5 hours!  Once you are asleep you have little control over how long you sleep otherwise I wouldn’t have wanted it to last so long - when I woke I felt even worse than I did before I went to bed!

The reason I felt I should sleep was because the in-store was at midnight, in Glasgow and therefore a good couple of hours from home. No problem being there in time, I was more worried about how I’d feel when driving home!

The gig went very well, was strange seeing them in that environment and with such a small crowd.  It was also good to see them up close when they signed our albums as well - just wished I had remembered to take the Everybody’s Changing CD I bought the first time I saw them in 2003!

Even the drive home was pretty uneventful, and the fact I was concentrating so hard on not sleeping or even feeling tired meant when I got to bed I found it hard to sleep - typical!

I was up and about on Monday at my usual time and didn’t really feel tired very much - it’s hit me now though!

With the Chinese GP taking place this coming weekend I’m grateful that it’s at the slightly more respectable hour of 6am and also thankful the early starts won’t be compounded by another late night run to and from Glasgow.

Of course, if Bernie gets his way all these far-flung races will take place at night local time so they will be at lunchtime in Europe, but personally I wouldn’t swap the early starts for anything as it just adds to the excitement and drama especially when they are at the start and end of the season.

Here’s hoping for a Chinese GP with action to match that of last week’s GP from Fuji!