I am a novice with F1, this year being the first I have paid any actual attention to it. I'm glad you're writing these for the site.

Allow a stupid (and novice) American question. Do you think Speed is doing well for a rookie or has his performance been fairly undistinguished? I have no idea what the general learning curve for F1 drivers tends to be.

Schumacher sure appears to have all the momentum to unseat Alonso. Can't wait to see how it unfolds.

Glad you have joined the F1 watching world. People don't realise half of the enjoyment of F1 is the behind the scenes politics, which is why I try to include the relevant references in my weekend reviews when I can.

This week it was obviously the Mass Damper system outlaw, then not outlaw, then affraid to run by the Renault team. However they have said that they will run it next week, pop along to f1-blog.co.uk for all the nitty gritty if you want to learn a little more.

DJRadiohead: Do you think Speed is doing well for a rookie or has his performance been fairly undistinguished?

I would say that Scott Speed's performance has been relatively undistinguished by F1 standards; and I base this as much on his GP2 record as his first year in F1. Generally the guys who end up winning championships have shown blinding speed and had dominant seasons in the lower formulae. Scott Speed finished third in the GP2 championship last year, but he never won any races. He wouldn't be expected to win many points in his current team in F1, but he should at least be annihilating his teammate, which he hasn't done. It's just barely possible that he's a late bloomer, but at this point I'd say the odds are against it, especially as European racing is not big on second chances.

Scott Speed might have a good future in ChampCar or sports car racing, or he could parlay being the only American in F1 into a decent living as a mid-pack driver, but I don't expect him to be World Champion - that was looking of reach even to Juan Pablo Montoya before he left the sport. Honestly, I don't see any U.S. World Champion on the horizon; but then real talent is so quickly promoted now that you don't usually see them coming more than a year or two before they hit F1.

Agreed, there are a few drivers in the US series' that could make it in F1, but there all European anyhow.

Just face it, besides the Andretti family Americans are just not good street racing drivers.

However there have been very few really good Nascar drivers from Europe, so the reverse is partially true.

America's best hope may lie with persuading Danica Patrick across, as she may get good sponsorship backing being the 'girl' and placed in a decent team. That is unlikely though, the requirements of an F1 driver over the IRL/Champ Car series is huge, yes they go quicker on an oval, but don't pull the G-Force and expend the energy an F1 driver does.

Saying that Scott Speed has got the possibility of a decent drive, as the STR team will get this year's V8 RBR02 and that is not a bad car, it will also get the trickle through of the Adrian Newy RBR03 aero advancements, and if the rumour is correct a Ferrari engine, so it may be good.

He is inexperienced, and has shown speed at times, so I say give him another season, the demands of the European F1 circuit are drastically different to those of USA and GP2, he may just need to acclimatise.

Plus he has Red Bull as his backer, and there not shy of spending a few quid.