F1's History Books: The Rest is Still Unwritten

In the world of Formula One we have so many undoubtedly fantastic talents. These are the talents which drive our favourite sport into exceptional realms of intense competition and stunning spectacles.

The opening to the current season has also given us a re-introduction to the dramatically unexpected events that can occur in the sport. This is something that has eluded the sport a lot in the last few years, throughout the years of Schumacher dominance and team advantages which played a major role in the results of race weekends and title battles.

We now have an eclectic mix of drivers thundering towards the front of the pack. And it is these surprising sporting heroes that are forcing those who we previously respected as the best drivers to be portrayed in a negative light.

Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, and Alonso have been completely dumbfounded at their dominance coming to a crashing holt. Their cars are letting them down in an embarrassing fashion.

They can do their jobs to the best of their ability and be presented with a mid field grid slot at best, leaving them to make up ground with a hopefully improved race pace.

This has obviously been a revolutionary chain of events for the sport. From the outset the season has become enticing and intriguing for its spectators. We cannot predict the outcome as of yet, and although we expect Ferrari and Mclaren to turn the tables, we relish this level of unpredictability.

What it has brought to our attention however is the lack of a dominating driver or collection of drivers. When Michael Schumacher dominated, he out performed his car with such natural ease that we became accustomed to the title race ending before the final couple of rounds of the season.

There has been a lot of talk recently about drivers such as Hamilton and Massa winning races due to their cars as opposed to their driving skills. For surely a faltering Mclaren in the hands of Lewis Hamilton would not be a faltering race car when he flourishes on a race track.

And that begs me to ask the question—do we have a driver in the field at the moment that is ever going to come close to matching the style and quality of driving that Michael Schumacher portrayed? Do we have a driver capable of outperforming a car to such a capacity that they become relatively un-defeatable?

A lack of a defining driver is not a bad thing of course. When Schumacher dominated the sport it became somewhat lifeless. It began to become obligatory for some to watch the highlights of a racing weekend.

This would of course have saved them from spending two hours trying to stay concentrated on a race where nothing happened except for a red Ferrari leading from the front. Events on track all seemed to blur into one.

History is made in Formula One however through drivers who showcase such incredible consistency and talent throughout their whole career. Fangio, Prost, Senna and Schumacher are forged into the memories of all who follow the sport; for these are the drivers who were capable of producing results season after season.

So can the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikonnen and Fernando Alonso enact in us a similar response to the mention of their names? If they cannot force their cars back to the forefront of the sport will they become known as flash in the pan drivers?

Will they become known as drivers who shone with a good car, but became average nobody’s when the heat was on, and they were presented with an actual fight on their hands?

Of the three Fernando seems the most equipped to tackle this early season struggle which has took hold of the "top teams." His second half of the 2008 season showed us what glorious qualities he has when he is behind a wheel. And this was even in a car which was number three at best of the ten teams.

For former champions Lewis and Kimi however, the pressure is most definitely on. They will need to produce great displays of determination and competitiveness to focus our attentions back on their previously acknowledged talents.

If not then they will become known for being one hit wonders, with their defining moments featuring when they were just about good enough and their car was flawless.

We have a blank page for the Formula One history books, so what will become written, in the years to come, if anything at all?