Mercedes, Petronas & ....... Michael Schumacher

The past few days bulletin from the world of F1 has been nothing but surprising for me, a fan. First, is the news that Petronas will become the title sponsor for Mercedes. The automatic reaction you'll get from any Malaysian would be, 'Aiyaa... Petronas sponsor Mercedes? Bukan kita dah ada Lotus F1 ke? Kenapa tak pergi situ je? Membazir duit je'. I was forming the same opinion initially, though team 1Malaysia F1 will be starting next year, it has been said that Tony Fernandes is still looking for major sponsors and since Petronas's contract with BMW Sauber ended at the end of this year's season, Lotus F1 seems to be the most ideal place to go next.

What we fail to see amidst all this hype of our country actually owning an F1 team (statements : numerous time Najib insisted that it is an investment by Lotus/Proton instead. truth : funding still comes from the Malaysian taxpayers), is that Petronas is still a corporation regardless of it being a state owned corporation. Thus with it comes the expectation of being sponsors for the Lotus F1. A reasonable expectation I thought.

Then... comes along Michael Schumacher. My favourite sportsmen, the most perfect guy that existed in my mind from the age of 7 till 12. I worshipped him once, and don't worry I have come to my senses now. My support for teams has always been moving with him. If he's with Renault, I'll support Renault. If he's with Ferrari, my never-ending loyalty with Ferrari that seems to end now marked by his departure is the reason why I got bullied everyday in sekolah agama by Fikril Afiq.

When Schumi signed with Mercedes, everything seems to make better sense. Reality check; Petronas maybe one of the companies in Fortune 500 and every Malaysian citizen has heard of it but in Europe all you can hear is crickets unless you're one of the technical crews for any F1 team. They need to penetrate the world's market and with the automative industry, branding is everything. For Petronas to be associated with Mercedes and 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher is a huge jump from the unknowns of BMW Sauber and definitely, an upper hand in terms of branding compared to Malaysia owned Lotus F1.

Of course the only way that this could go bad for Petronas is if Lotus were to score more points than Mercedes, which is very much unlikely. Regardless of that, the association with those 2 big names will definitely be in the best interest of Petronas, especially in promoting it's lubricant. Yes people, LUBRICANTS.

I shall be very optimistic now, and hope for only great things to come for Michael Schumacher and the Lotus F1 team. I hope that Petronas will organize contests that allows its participants to meet Michael Schumacher and with that, I wish for a little bit of luck (prediction : changing petrol usage from Shell to Petronas must be one of the criteria for the contest. Haha) .I hope that my final examinations will not clash with the date of the race so that for the first time in my whole life, I can actually watch my favourite game.

And please, cut Petronas some slack. It's nothing personal, it's just business.

Ferrari's HOLDing on!

World champion Kimi Raikkonen believes he won his first Formula One title because of Ferrari's superb teamwork.

Trailing Lewis Hamilton by 26 points at one stage, Raikkonen clinched the title after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"We weren't in the strongest position at some points, but we always believed we could recover," said Raikkonen.

"Even in the hard times we stuck together," the Finn added. "I need to thank the team because we always worked hard to improve the situation."

Hamilton's attempt to make history by winning the title in his maiden season ended when he finished only seventh.

The Briton had started the race as title favourite with a four-point lead over team-mate Fernando Alonso and an advantage of seven over Raikkonen.

But Hamilton's challenge was scuppered when problems with his McLaren saw him drop to the back of the field early in the race.

And former world champion Alonso's hopes were dashed as he finished third behind Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa.

Brazilian Massa, who had led for most of the first 50 laps, was overtaken by Raikkonen during the second round of pitstops who held onto the lead to secure victory and the championship..

Raikkonen was quick to praise Massa's contribution to his title success.

"It is great to win both championships," said Raikkonen, referring to Ferrari's constructors' championship success. "I thank the whole team for that, for all their hard work, and Felipe too.

"It was perfect teamwork."

Runner-up in 2003 and 2005, Raikkonen is the third Finnish Formula One world champion after Keke Rosberg (1982) and Mika Hakkinen (1998 and 1999).

Raikkonen is the first driver since the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio to win the championship in his first season with Ferrari.

The Finn joined Ferrari from McLaren as successor to retired seven-times champion Michael Schumacher.

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It was perfect teamwork. The main reason why I love supporting Ferrari. It was all drama in this final race. Will try to catch a re-run of it. I'm so happy for Ferrari, shows that you don't need spies in your team to win while the other might be full of it. I'm just so happy. Happy. Hehehe... I never liked McLaren, yup... even when Raikkonen was in it. The only way I might like it if Schumacher drives for them which of course will never happen.

Anyway, I still believe that Massa's the man of the race. Let's see how long he can pull this off and I do hope Ferrari will make it clear soon that he's just as important as Kimi. You know, we don't want him to be another Barrichello.