Over the next couple of days, I’m going to have a quick look at the British drivers ahead of the 2008 Formula One season which starts next Sunday, 16th March. First up is Lewis Hamilton…

Where to start - at this time last year noone had any idea how Lewis Hamilton would cope with life in F1.

Sure, we had seen him racing superbly in GP2, and we knew Ron Dennis would have ensured Lewis was vprepared better then any rookie in F1 history so should his performances really have surprised us?

Honda flew the nest at the end of last season which has prompted ITV to seek out a new sponsor ahead of the F1 season starting next Sunday.

Initial reports indicated that a figure of around £5million was anticipated to be required to claim the rights however the rumours are that Sony’s new contract will only see ITV claim £3million - still a pretty penny.   No doubt ITV were hoping the Lewis-factor would have loosened the pursestrings in boardooms around the globe, however it was not to be.

So why would a company want to associate themselves with F1?

I spoke about this before, it had to happen really and now it has.

February’s edition of F1 Racing flopped through the door over a week ago - normally a very exciting thing which would make me eager to sit down and read it from cover to cover as soon as possible.

We were heading away last weekend and I had just finished the book I had been reading so the timing was perfect to leave the new book at home and take the magazine instead - but it was Ben Elton’s book I picked up and F1 Racing I left at home.

From a spectator’s point of view is Alonso joining Renault a good thing in the grand scheme of things?

It’s not an easy question to answer.

What it guarantees (hopefully, barring unforseen circumstances) is that the three best drivers are all going to be at different teams for the next year at least.

Unlike this year where Alonso and Hamilton were both at McLaren, next season will see Hamilton remain at McLaren, Alonso at Renault and Kimi at Ferrari.  Throw a BMW driver or two into the mix and perhaps a Red Bull and it sounds like it could be a good year of racing!

Is Fernando Alonso’s future really as bleak as has been made out in Alan Henry’s column for F1 Racing magazine this month?

As viewers, we are lulled into a false sense that we know exactly what goes on even behind closed doors these days, but the truth of the matter is that only a select few are allowed access to the real behind-the-scenes stuff.

Journalists are of course privy to this access so I assume that we should take heed of what they say, but I have my doubts about Henry’s thoughts.