In 2006, the famous privateers in F1 motor racing will be no more. Peter Sauber has sold Sauber off to BMW, Eddie Jordan's bright yellow will make way for the dull dark blue of Midland F1 and even Minardi are leaving F1 having given their team to Red Bull.
Another massively important change in Formula One next year will be the absence of the Formula One Losers League, a fantasy league I have been running on the interwebular cyberspaceway. Without proper web support, I can't produce the all-singing all-prancing website I need to take the League to the next level.
Perhaps the most upsetting change in '06, however, is Takuma Sato not getting a race drive. The cheeky little Japanese has wowed us with his inconsistency and crashes over the past few years, and despite his frankly dangerous driving style, he is the most successful Japanese F1 driver of all time.
I have been watching the Brazilian grand prix. He came into the race demoted ten places on the grid for smashing wildly into Michael Schumacher two weeks ago. And he has just been demoted another ten places because of an engine change. There are only 20 cars in F1, so that's a pretty impressive penalty. I love Takuma Sato for exactly this.
But BAR have dumped him in favour of grinning Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and some bloke called Jenson Button. It's been on the cards for some time - as Taku says, ""I am not surprised by todays confirmation about next year."
But look on the bright side. He put in a near-perfect drive in Turkey, and I think it was the British GP where he produced a solid points finish in front of a British crowd for British American Racing.
So what are Takuma's options? Test driver for BAR? Getting a seat in Jordan/Midland (like BAR, they have a Japanese engine, so national loyalty could play a part)?
Whatever, Takuma Sato deserves a seat because:
a) I have watched crap Japanese F1 drivers for years, and Taku has broken the mould;
b) He performs like a rally driver, throwing his car around the track like a child with a Tonka;
c) He's cute and I want to adopt him.
Save Takuma Sato!
