So Ferrari gets Michael Schumacher in an advisory role and, not to be outdone, McLaren is considering taking on Mika Hakkinen in a similar capacity. That would be quite appropriate since they were rivals on the track and Michael considers Mika the toughest opponent he ever faced.

I wonder for how long this new trend for ex-drivers as advisors will continue, however. Michael always looked the obvious candidate for such a job at Ferrari, thanks to his team-building abilities and motivating skills. But Mika seemed a very different sort, a pure racer without Michael’s cold calculation and insistence that everything be done his way. To me, he looks less suited to the position suggested at McLaren and would probably be better in some sort of public relations role. Everyone loves Mika, after all.

The idea of jobs for veterans has its appeal, even so. Imagine Gerhard Berger employing Jacques Villeneuve as Toro Rosso’s unofficial mouthpiece – Jacques would be happy being able to agitate everyone with outrageous statements and Gerhard would have a great laugh, being the practical joker that he is. Juan Pablo Montoya could be taken on by Super Aguri as a balance for their eternal Japanese optimism – and he could carry on biting off the heads of newsmen.

We could even extend the concept and replace Max Mosley with Alessandro Zanardi, thereby changing the face of the FIA from grim dictator to open and friendly. And he would be a constant reminder to everyone of the dangers of swapping to American oval racing. Damon Hill could be made lifetime president of the Grand Prix Drivers Association and continue his quest to be taken seriously.

Johnny Herbert would be the obvious choice for organizer of the FIA awards ceremony at the end of the year – that would be a real knees-up, instead of the pompous round of self-congratulatory speeches of old. And Heinz Harald Frentzen could be employed as his sidekick, never saying anything but smiling, smiling, smiling.

But most of all, I’d like to cheat a little and have Bernie Ecclestone replaced by a non-driver: Murray Walker. I can see it now…

“Of course you can have a Grand Prix… No, wait a minute, where did you say you were from? Brunei? Well, yes, I think we can manage that… Ummm, where is Brunei anyway?”

“My bet for champion next year? Oh that has to be Kimi Alonso, without a doubt. Or maybe Jenson Hamilton – after all, you just can’t rule out those Renaults, you know…”

Well, a little confusion can go a long way in any sport.

Ron Dennis has at last announced that Lewis Hamilton gets the second McLaren seat for 2007. The waiting is over and Britain can celebrate.

Ron has been very sensible in his announcement; he has played down expectations that the young Hamilton will set the world alight, at least in the first half of the season, but expects that he will continue his learning process and realise his full potential as time goes on. Lewis is a very level-headed driver and will give of his best, I’m sure.

Probably the best way to take the news is to be glad that this bright new talent has been given his chance but to allow him plenty of time to grow into the position. He may turn out to be a Senna or a Schumacher and have an immediate effect on races but that is extremely rare – most drivers take at least a year to ease their way into the pressures and demands of F1.

Remember, too, how difficult we made it for Button with our unrealistic expectations. Year upon year we have demanded that he do better, often when his equipment was just not up to the job of winning races. If we can restrain our hopes for Lewis (and if the press can do so too!), we will actually assist him to concentrate on his task and produce the goods.

Having said which, I must admit that I hope Lewis really does well, better than we should realistically expect. There is room in F1 for a new superstar, now that Schumacher has gone. How good it would be if Lewis were to prove the next one.

But no pressure, no pressure!

Autosport magazine reports that Toyota wants Bridgestone to allow them to test on extra days during the winter tests. The Japanese tire company are resisting this suggestion as it would break the agreement already reached over testing and coincidentally require them to supply more tires when their facilities are already under pressure.

Although the team deny any knowledge of the request, it appears that it emanates from the highest level of Toyota management. And Bridgestone are adamant that they will not depart from their previous agreement regarding tests and tires to be supplied in their quest to be even-handed in their new role as sole supplier of tires to F1. A Bridgestone spokesperson said: “The problem we have now is that this has gone beyond one team talking to its tyre supplier. In effect they’ve called their dad and we’ve called ours, so it has gone right to the top and got very complicated.”

Which bodes well for the coming season. Many are expecting that previous Bridgestone customers will have an advantage in the new year because they already have a working relationship with the tire supplier. Yet, on this evidence, it seems that Bridgestone intend to be completely fair in their handling of the monopoly. Taking into account that fact that the tire for 2007 will be completely different from those produced this year, it is difficult to see how any team will have much of an advantage from previous experience of using Bridgestone tires.

And that is how it should be; the idea of a single tire manufacturer was to cut the huge costs involved in seeking a tiny advantage over a competing tire supplier. It may seem a step back from the cutting edge of technology so necessary to F1 but in reality a standardized tire formula enables the engineers and drivers to compete on the same terms, thereby allowing the best engineered cars to reap their just rewards.

It will also take away an excuse for poor performance; teams will no longer be able to blame a bad race result on their tires but rather on their use of them. So the best teams will still come out on top, regardless of whether they have used Bridgestones before or not, particularly as the winter tests should wipe away any remaining advantage to being a Bridgestone customer in 2006.

The team that just might be at a disadvantage over tires is Spyker – they have said that they will not participate in the winter tests, preferring to develop the new car within the factory. This might leave them with some ground to make up in the early part of the season but I can’t see it being significant. Once they have the new car dialled in, it should be as competitive as it was always going to be (which is being very coy about how good I think the Spyker will be – well, wouldn’t you have doubts too?).

So I see the Bridgestone/Toyota news as good for the sport; as long as Bridgestone resist any pressure to vary the testing schedule, the likelihood is that they will be just as fair when the new season gets under way.

One thing that never varies between seasons is the optimistic outlook of every team in F1. Looking at the possibilities and listening to the reported statements, it is easy to think that everyone is going to do well next year.

Yet we know life isn’t like that; always there are losers as well as winners. Some amongst the teams will find their hopes dashed and have to transfer their optimism to 2008. And part of the game in the off season is in guessing who will fail to achieve their objectives.

The big disappointment this year was the Honda team – everyone expected them to be pushing for race wins but they came good only at the end of the year. Red Bull, too, had a poor season and are now admitting that they gave up on the RB2 from its first race, deciding that it was a lost cause and they would be better employed preparing for 2007. David Coulthard had an even tougher year than we knew about, it seems. But, having put so much work into Adrian Newey’s RB3, Red Bull are expecting great things in the coming season. We shall see.

Anthony Davidson has been talking about his reaction to being taken on as a race driver by Super Aguri and his optimism is a little more guarded than others, understandably so. To aim for points and to be pushing Takuma Sato hard by the end of the year are both realistic ambitions. There are always a few chaotic races in the year when small teams can gather a point or two. But I hope he does better than “push Taku hard”!

Over at Toro Rosso, Gerhard Berger has said that their driver line-up will be unchanged for 2007, although no official announcement has been made as yet. Which is good news for Scott Speed, in view of all the rumors that Robert Doornbos was being considered as a replacement for him. The American has been talking of his hopes for the season, perhaps more confident now that his place seems assured, and he, too, expects to score points for the team.

So who is going to lose out after all this talk? It would be easy to pick the losers from previous seasons but, ever a supporter of underdogs, I hope they all do as well as they expect to. The one I would really like to see fall flat on its face is Ferrari – which is not exactly likely, I know. But when Luca di Montezemolo “promises” the fans the 2007 championships, my natural reaction is to wish fervently for him to have to eat his words.

Optimism is one thing, a promise another thing entirely.