The 2012 Formula One season may yet have delivered the new drivers' champion, but even before the world's fastest racing cars finish their cylinder-driven samba around the Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo next week we can be certain of one fact ... the new champion will be crowned an all-time great along with this year's best.

Both Germany's Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso of Spain are used to superlatives from motor racing commentators: they are both exceptionally talented and boast back-to-back double-champion pedigree.

And as the two sole pilots left in the hunt to finish top of this year's grid, they also both stand on the edge of joining an elite members' club.

Since the sport's birth in 1950 few have managed to win three world titles; those who did scale these heights are now legends.

Michael Schumacher (seven world titles), Juan Manuel Fangio (five), Alain Prost (four), Niki Lauda (three), Nelson Piquet (three), Ayrton Senna (three), Jack Brabham (three) and Jackie Stewart (three) are all giants on whose shoulders the modern sport now stands.

Notice also, by the way, this list excludes such notables as Stirling Moss, Damon Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alberto Ascari or Mario Andretti; drivers who - among others - possessed scintillating skill, charisma and speed but were without the car, consistency or fortune to enter the pantheon set aside for the privileged few.

With all to play for ahead of Brazil's finale from the favelas - only 13 points separate championship leader Vettel from Alonso in second, with 25 points available to the winner of the last race - the thought of attaining such an historic triumph must be driving (literally) every competitive sinew the two rivals possess.

Whoever wins, there are few who could argue they would not deserve such accolade. The biggest criticism which could be leveled at Vettel is he has benefitted from driving a Red Bull car far superior to any in the other garages of the pit lane.

In Adrian Newey, Red Bull have a genius of design who has produced a reliable, innovative and super quick package time and time again. But to think that a fast car alone is enough to deliver three titles would be small-minded.

Just ask Mark Webber - who has raced the same car as Vettel to exactly no world titles in three years - or Senna and Prost, who dueled for their championships using the same McLaren car. It takes something extra to be called “number one”.

Whether nailing qualifying to clinch pole by hundredths of a second, as in Bahrain, or driving against the odds from pits to podium to pick up improbable points in Abu Dhabi, or withstanding the mental pressures of leading from the front to leave opponents trailing in his wake (two years in a row in India), Vettel delivers when performance is most needed.

If Alonso were to win it would definitely turn the tables on those who argue F1 is merely down to engineering prowess over driver skill.

Even Ferrari's most ardent fans would admit the “Prancing Horse” was more of a stub-nosed dog at the start of the season, and in a year when Red Bull have again wrapped up the constructors' championship, the Maranello man has arguably performed better than any other driver given the machine at his disposal.

Alonso's against-the-odds points grab this season has been nothing short of remarkable: in Malaysia he drove from 8th on the grid to victory, in Valencia it was from 11th he dragged the Ferrari to a win before securing a memorable 3rd place finish in Monza from a starting place of 10th.

In terms of return, 12 podium places from 19 races is worthy of a separate award for collecting champagne jeroboams.

It also has to be considered that this year's champion would have won by beating a record number of rival world champions to the prize. Could that be said of Schumacher or Prost in their pomp? Whatever the outcome in Brazil the F1 world will celebrate a new triple-champion, the question then will be - given the age of both concerned - whether they can challenge to be the greatest F1 driver in history.

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

Five winners from the first five races? What’s happened to Formula One? We’re used to seeing a young German dominate, but he’s only won one race this year.

It has happened before, but it's very rare. In fact you have to go back to 1983, when five drivers from five different teams won the first five races.

Alain Prost broke that streak at Spa in Belgium, with his second victory of the season, but almost 30 years later there is no guarantee that the 2012 trend will not continue this weekend in Monaco.

So why is the racing so hit-and-miss at the moment? Firstly, yes, the tires have played a very large role.

The car that can get the best out of the Pirelli rubber, at the right time, will be much faster than anything else on track whether it’s a Red Bull or a McLaren. It’s all about maximizing the tires’ sweet spot and making sure that they last without their performance dropping away, very suddenly.

Ask Kimi Raikkonen how that feels – he had first-hand experience in China when he lost 10 places in one lap on worn tires. If you’re on the wrong rubber at the wrong time you may as well head to the pits and munch on ice cream, as the Finn famously did when a race was halted in 2009.

The fact that tires are now more important is partly down to the huge loss of downforce resulting from the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers at the end of 2011.

With less downforce at the back of the car (which means that it is pushed into the ground to create more grip), the rear tires slide around more and therefore get hotter, quicker. Add to this the huge variations in the temperatures at the different tracks and you’re some way to seeing why tire management is such a science.

Some teams are easier on their tires than others, and some drivers - like Perez and Button –have a remarkable ability to nurse them. But the current situation is emphasizing tire management and car setup even more than ever before.

The team that gets its head around the perfect way to treat the Pirellis will go on to win the 2012 world championship. It could be anyone from Williams to Ferrari.

The other reason for the apparently random results is that there is also a reasonably stable set of regulations this year, meaning that the performance differential has been somewhat leveled and almost every team - bar Caterham, Marussia and HRT - is in with a shot at taking the checkered flag at any given race.

It may be making the average fan salivate with excitement, but a certain Michael Schumacher is far from happy (and far from winning) with the emphasis on tire management.

Understandably he’s pretty tired of driving around constantly conserving tires, not being able to race flat out. Racing drivers tend to like driving as fast as they can.

“I just think,” he told CNN, “that they're playing a much too big effect because they are so peaky and so special that they don't put our cars or ourselves to the limit."

It’s not just Schumacher who’s tired of the current F1 lottery though; Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz also thinks that the tires are throwing up too many surprise results. But whether that is down to the fact that his driver Sebastian Vettel has won the last two world championships with predictable racing, I couldn’t possibly comment on.

Okay, so for the purist fan it is perhaps a step too far, but for the average fan? They’re loving it. “Wouldn’t want it any other way” and “totally brilliant” were two typical responses when I posed the question of whether the unpredictability made good watching on Twitter earlier this week.

There may only be 20 points between the top seven drivers, but if you look at the top of the championship table the names Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel sit side by side on 61 points each. They’re arguably the two fastest drivers in F1 at the moment and that’s perhaps the crux of the argument.

Yes, the racing is unpredictable, but class still rises to the top.

With all this in mind, looking ahead to possible contenders to win in Monaco this weekend is going to be a pretty thankless task. Unless, of course, I just list every single entrant. But you can’t ever ignore the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, nor the Ferrari of Alonso. Hamilton has been plagued by bad luck this year and it’s surely time for things to swing his way.

The Red Bulls will be fast, but then so could the Williams – especially in the hands of recent first-time winner Maldonado, who is very quick around the Principality. Last year he drove one of the races of his career only to be taken out in the closing stages by a charging, and hot-headed, Hamilton.

Lotus also looks very strong and if it goes smoothly for either Romain Grosjean or Raikkonen, then expect there to be six different winners, from six different teams, in the first six races of the year. It sounds better than it did after Monaco last year doesn’t it? After the street race in 2011 Vettel left with his fifth victory of the season, 58 points clear in the championship.

The 1983 season ended with Nelson Piquet just edging out Prost for the title, which he achieved with only three wins compared to the Frenchman's four. Hamilton’s comment that this year is all about consistently bagging points is spot on. Win or lose in Monaco, no-one will want to leave with nil points.

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

As the Formula One circus makes its way to Catalunya for the first of the European rounds this weekend, Ferrari finds itself hoping, desperately, that it has made a step forward.

The teams have just finished their first in-season test since 2008, and after three days spent at Mugello everyone has their eyes on the Italian cars. Can Ferrari turn its season around with just one test? Probably not, is the quick answer.

Between the beginning of 2000 and the end of 2004, Ferrari was utterly dominant in Formula One. So dominant, in fact, that thanks to its drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello it notched up 57 wins in 85 races (48 of which were courtesy of Germany's seven-time world champion).

I recently met Daniel Bruhl, who is playing ex-Ferrari driver Niki Lauda in the upcoming Hollywood film "Rush," and even he lost all interest in Formula One during those years. And he’s German. The team was so invincible that before each race started you could have written a report on it.

Okay, during those years Ferrari had Schumacher (whose status as its "number one" was very clear even after team orders were banned), Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, and tailor-made Bridgestone tires. But what really made a difference was that it tested relentlessly. Despite many drivers hating the thought of going round in circles collecting data, Schumacher appeared to revel in it.

However, just because there has been an in-season test this year it doesn’t necessarily mean that Ferrari will be challenging the likes of Red Bull and McLaren when the lights go out on Sunday.

There’s no denying that the Scuderia started the season with an ill-handling, unpredictable car, but no one could have predicted that after the first four races Fernando Alonso would be fifth in the world championship, only 10 points behind the leader Sebastian Vettel.

The fact that the Spaniard – whose two world titles came when he was at Renault - notched up that victory in Malaysia in March is perhaps the only thing that is keeping the "tifosi" from storming the Maranello castle.

Ferrari’s last constructors' title was back in 2008, while Kimi Raikkonen was the last Scuderia driver to lift the drivers' crown, and that was in 2007 when the very first iPhone was announced. Seems like a decade ago doesn’t it?

Anything less than several victories this year and team principal Stefano Domenicali will be, unjustly, put right in the firing line of a very unforgiving Italian media armed with the Gazzetta dello Sport’s AK47 equivalent: thousands of column inches.

At Mugello Ferrari did test many new parts on the car, but the updates look suspiciously like something that would make the car more predictable, rather than blisteringly quick. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s not a step in the right direction – just don’t expect Alonso to put his car on pole in Catalunya (famous last words?)

Alonso, it seems, is of a similar opinion. “In Montmelo,” he said on the Ferrari website on May 5, “we will be counting on making a step forward, but we won’t know until Saturday if we have and if so, how big a step it is. Clearly, having limited the damage in the first four races this year, we must turn things around.

“Having said that, it’s not the case that if we are not on pole in Barcelona then it’s the end of the world. The important thing is to make progress, reducing the gap as much as possible, first this weekend, then again in Monaco and after that, in Montreal, Valencia, Silverstone...”

If Ferrari employed me I would be saying exactly the same - not lifting the hopes of the millions of Ferrari fans around the world. Ferrari will no doubt have sorted some of its issues, but all the other leading teams were at the same test and, bar something extraordinary, they all will have taken a step forward as well.

That said, there are still 16 races left and who would have predicted four different winners from four different teams in the first four races of this season? No, me neither. Formula One 2012 continues to intrigue.

(Editor's note: Ed Foster is the associate editor of Motor Sport magazine. He is also an F1 pundit for CNN's World Sport show.)

Why hasn't Red Bull won a race so far this year? What's happened to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber? Last year the German driver turned up at every track expecting to win, such was the dominance of his car. However, this year it's all changed.

Mercedes has won its first race since 1955, McLaren has started the year with a quick car, and Ferrari most certainly hasn't. Is Red Bull's dominance finally over? It is for now, but don't expect double world champion Vettel to be happy not taking that checkered flag and showing us all that "victory finger" of his.

For those that are wondering what's happened since the black and white flag was waved in Brazil last season, here's some insight from the paddock:

McLaren: McLaren has spent the last few years playing catch up throughout the season having started the year with an uncompetitive car. However, this year it has started well, and Jenson Button's victory in the Australian Grand Prix is proof that the team has stolen a march on its rivals.

The Britain-based outfit is also one of the best in the pit lane at mid-season development. It has the resources, and the drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Button, to be an almost certain championship contender. It's also one of only two teams to maintain its car's elegance by avoiding the stepped-nose design.

Mercedes: Since the takeover of Brawn GP at the end of 2009, Mercedes has struggled to replicate the form that carried Jenson Button to that year's title. Brawn GP dramatically downsized its team during that championship year and it's only now, over two years later, that Mercedes has managed to recover that form.

Rosberg's win and pole position in China were sublime and now that he has that maiden win under his belt - after 111 races - expect him to keep posting strong results. Their straight-line speed from the last two years now seems to have been carried into the corners. Mercedes are in a very strong position to take their first world championship since 1955.

Red Bull: Red Bull, particularly in qualifying, was untouchable last year and carried Sebastian Vettel to his second World Championship. However, this year it has struggled in qualifying which many people are putting down to the ban on off-throttle blown diffusers.

Last year Red Bull perfected the technology that meant, even when the driver wasn't on the throttle, exhaust gases were blown over the rear of the car creating a huge amount of downforce and therefore grip. Don't write the team off though. It has huge resources and two very quick drivers. Expect them to be back at the front soon.

Ferrari: It all seems to have gone wrong for Ferrari this year. The car is nowhere near as quick as the front-runners, but Fernando Alonso did manage to pull of a stunning victory in a mixed conditions Malaysian Grand Prix. Don't be fooled though. The Ferrari's dry pace is nowhere near the likes of McLaren.

Felipe Massa - whose seat in the team is under pressure - is still struggling to match Alonso's pace. The lack of form is being put down to his huge accident in the second part of qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, when a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car hit him in the head.

However, he was quick when he returned at the beginning of 2010 and his current lack of form seems to stem from being asked to move over for his team-mate Alonso in that year's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. If ever there was a message to say "you are the number two driver," that was it.

Ferrari may struggle to catch up with the might of Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes.

Renault and Sauber: Kimi Raikkonen, after a two-year sabbatical in the World Rally Championship, seems to have lost none of his pace. Meanwhile, Sauber's Sergio Perez has managed to prove that he is a worthy possible successor to Massa at Ferrari after a brilliant drive in the Chinese Grand Prix, which brought him his first podium in F1.

But the burning question is whether these midfield teams can keep up with the speed of development that the top outfits can manage.

Will this be one of the most exciting championships of recent years? It'll be hard to beat the heart-stopping final race in 2008, when Lewis Hamilton won the title on the last corner of the last lap, but on current evidence things are looking good. Look at the amount of overtaking in the past few races. I know, overtaking in F1? We're certainly entering a golden era of racing.

The fact that there are six Formula One world champions on the grid for this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the most there has ever been, is amazing.

As racing drivers, what they all want to do is win a race with the best possible grid. If they win against nobodies, it means nothing to them. But with six world champions, if they win a race, it is a huge accolade to have.

One of the reasons it should be a really good season is all the teams seem much closer together this year. We won’t know the true nature of things until the end of the fly away races at the beginning of the season, but everything looks a bit closer. Even the midfield teams look closer to the front of the grid than normal.

Ferrari might surprise a few people, because they still don’t have a very quick car. In Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso they have got one of the best drivers on the grid, alongside Red Bull’s two-time title winner Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso’s patience has got to be wearing thin, he has been very supportive of the company but he is a racing driver, he wants to be winning races.

Mercedes could surprise people because they are much faster than last year and they will be a lot closer to the front of the grid than they were in 2010 and 2011.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has struggled to reach his peak form since returning to the sport with Mercedes in 2010, but the sport has changed a lot.

There are new technical regulations and different rules relating to tires. But the bottom line is Schumacher is not as good as he was. But this year, with the Mercedes being a lot quicker, he should be back up there.

If there’s a sniff of rain or mixed conditions, Schumacher is always going to be the one who comes through and will probably grab victory.

Like Schumacher two years ago, 2007 drivers’ champion Kimi Raikkonen is returning to the sport with Lotus, formerly Renault, after two years away.

But unlike Schumacher, not too much has changed since the Finn has been away. His teammate, France’s Romain Grosjean, was not very good when he stood in for Nelson Piquet at Renault in 2010.

Grosjean has gone away, he has matured and he has got a lot better. But he is not world champion material. I think he will flatter Raikkonen nicely.

But the man to beat will be Vettel. The German is such a complete driver, every part of him is brilliant. People question his overtaking ability, but we saw at Monza last year, when he went round Alonso with two wheels on the grass, that he doesn’t have too many worries in that department.

Vettel is the complete package and still so young -– he is going to stay at this level for many years to come. He is not the overwhelming favorite, but if the Red Bull is quick enough he will win races, which could make life tough for his Australian teammate Mark Webber.

The 35-year-old didn’t have a great season in 2011, despite his season-ending win in Brazil. He was comprehensively blown away by Vettel. When a driver starts winning races, as Vettel has, the team starts getting behind you. As the other driver, you are going to start feeling left out.

The McLaren pair of Button and Hamilton will be Vettel’s main challengers.

Button and Hamilton get on really well, as well as you can as teammates. If someone beats you from another team, you just say their car is faster, but there is always that edge with teammates. They’ve got the same equipment and that is the perfect person to compare yourself to.

McLaren are good at putting two very quick drivers into their team and letting them go for it. Obviously there have been bumps, with Alonso and Hamilton in 2007 and Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in the 1980s.

It doesn’t always go according to plan. But of all the teammates on the grid, you get an impression Button and Hamilton do get on very well.

Button is actually a very normal, down-to-earth, decent guy, so it’s hard not to like him. He is at the peak of his career. He’s got the experience, he’s quick and he has obviously settled in really well at McLaren.

He is one of the quickest drivers on the grid now and he’s got a very bright future at McLaren having signed a multi-year contract last season.

What we will see this year is, if a team makes a single mistake, in terms of tire strategy or pit stops, they are going to pay for it hugely and finish 13th rather than sixth.

Last year if you made a tiny mistake, you could perhaps hide it because the gaps between the teams were so big. But this year the gap won’t be there. That’s going to mean the team which makes the least mistakes is going to be right up there.

I landed in Daytona Beach, Florida to cover my first Daytona 500, and in a matter of a few hours I witnessed sports history.

Danica Patrick was the fastest car on the track Friday. She won the pole. And for that she gets to start Saturday's season-opening Nationwide Series race as the lead car. It's the first time since Shawna Robinson in 1994 that a female driver has been the top qualifier in a NASCAR event.

Coming into this "Great American Race" she was obviously the biggest story going. On the plane, in the airport and even in my cab Danica was mentioned by someone. The first female driver to win an event on the IndyCar circuit, she raced here for the first time last year, finishing 14th and 10th in the two races, but has now made the full-time switch to NASCAR.

Most of the folks I've talked to in my short time here like her, they want her to do well. But of course when you're as big of a celebrity as she is, the naysayers are not far away.

But in just 24 hours she gave those doubters something to chew on.

She ran her car well in duels on Thursday but crashed into the wall on the final lap. It shook her up pretty bad, but a helpful husband who happens to be an occupational therapist rubbed most of the pain and nearly all the fear away.

In one Friday afternoon she proved why she is the most improved driver in NASCAR in the last two years. Not my words, fellow driver Elliott Sadler said it in the media room minutes before Danica sat in front of us to talk about her history-making run.

In two short days we've seen Danica Patrick go from the lowest of lows in racing to a short-lived high! The biggest story going is just that – going!

Time for some racing, watch out boys!

The name Senna was already on many people’s lips on Tuesday, when the eponymous documentary picked up three richly-deserved BAFTA nominations. That Williams, the Formula One team so tragically and inextricably linked to Ayrton’s death, should choose the same day to announce the signing of his 28-year-old nephew, Bruno, was remarkably poetic.

So much has been written about Ayrton Senna that his story scarcely needs retelling, even if it remains utterly fascinating. But outside of his family connections, Bruno Senna is less well-known. Ayrton himself once said, “If you think I’m fast, wait until you see my nephew!”

But the 10-year-old’s racing career almost died too on that tragic day at Imola in 1994 when his family, quite understandably, forbade him to continue. However, following a decade’s hiatus from the sport, its lure finally proved too seductive, and Bruno took to the track once more.

Eight years on, perhaps that time away from the wheel has cost him in terms of his development. On a grid that features no fewer than six world champions, Senna faces almost unprecedentedly fierce competition.

Compare him to 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton - a year younger than Bruno, but thanks to his many years in the bosom of McLaren, vastly more experienced – and his performance is actually more notable than it first appears.

Senna follows legendary uncle in joining Williams

I spent an afternoon with Bruno at his home in Monaco last year, shortly after he joined Renault as a test driver. I remember trying to clear my head of thoughts of his uncle before I met him, certain that he must be tired of the comparisons. But enter Bruno’s apartment and Ayrton is an unavoidable presence. Pictures and mementos of the great man’s incredible life adorn the walls and, as many have remarked, Bruno’s likeness to him is quite startling.

Bruno is, however, quite a different character. Open and immensely likeable, he is also relaxed about the inevitable comparisons, and understandably fond of the memories he has of his uncle. He spoke warmly of Ayrton’s affection for his family and the time he gave its youngest members. “He loved kids, so me and my sister, we always had a great time with him,” he told me.

So what exactly does he bring to Williams, a 16-time world champion team that languished equal ninth in the constructors’ standings last season? The younger Senna has apparently impressed his new employers with his technical prowess.

I had a glimpse of his passion for technology when, somewhat hilariously, he accidentally dropped his phone down the toilet. Opening up a briefcase he revealed a galaxy of tools that would grace any engineer’s workbench, and proceeded to tinker patiently with the handset in an attempt to revive it.

He also brings a significant sponsor from his home country, which may attract cynicism from some commentators, but will certainly be welcome at a team that has struggled to match its rivals of late - making its last world title in 1997 seem a very long time ago indeed.

But it is the intangible quality that he brings to Williams, and in this new partnership, to Formula One that is undoubtedly the most compelling element to the story. Ayrton only competed in three races for Williams before disaster struck, and the subsequent trial and acrimony that surrounded the team following his death might lead many to assume the relationship was scarred forever.

But the name “Senna” has adorned every single Williams car that has raced since the accident, and there is a real sense that Bruno is already part of the family. Not only that, he has looked a more accomplished driver by the year and there are signs that, given the right car, he may well be a force on the grid.

Anyone who has seen the film “Senna” will have been struck by the glamor and romance that exuded from the sport in what was an extraordinary period in its history. There is no question that in the intervening years this has waned.

The pre-eminence of the somewhat divisive figure of Michael Schumacher and a lack of competitive racing lost the sport many casual fans for a while. The emergence of technology as the dominant feature of the cars has also made it somewhat opaque and a little cold at times.

But while the technology is clearly here to stay, over recent seasons the grid has given us some of the most competitive racing in years, and the youthful vigor of Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button has injected it with new life.

Perhaps the only ingredient missing was some of the romance evoked so powerfully by Asif Kapadia’s documentary. The combination of Bruno Senna and Williams brings that to the grid in spades. Many will want it to succeed.

The death of British driver and two-time Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon in Sunday's IndyCar World Championships at Las Vegas was graphic in its violence, distressing in its drama and a tragedy for all who knew him.

The 33-year-old, who started the race seeking to win a $5 million purse as victor, drove to his grave participating in the sport he loved.

IndyCar, America's most popular version of open-wheeled racing, is currently enduring its darkest hour as Wheldon's family and friends try to deal with his sudden departure.

In an era when technological advances have been so rapid in areas, from communication to healthcare, it seems inconceivable that a sporting celebrity can still lose his life in such a high-profile way, what is more disconcerting for those in charge of motorsport in America is that this is not a lone incident in the modern era.

Driving a fragile human body at high speed around a circuit made of stone in a vehicle made for speed is always going to be a risky business but in the last 20 years there have been 15 deaths in IndyCar and NASCAR combined.

Tony Renna, Paul Dana and now Wheldon are Indy drivers to have died racing since the turn of the century.

Just compare this to safety record of Formula One, a rival division of elite motorsport in which former champion Jackie Stewart maintained there was a two in three chance he would die at the wheel such was the high ratio of driver fatality during the 1960s and 1970s.

Since 1953, 36 drivers have died racing in Formula One; nine of these fatalies were at American circuits, seven at Indianapolis two at Watkins Glen.

The last person to die in an F1 race was the legendary Ayrton Senna in 1994, when the Brazilian drove head on into a wall at the San Marino Grand Prix. Sadly, it was the second death that occurred at Imola that weekend as Austrian Roland Ratzenberger died in qualifying the previous day.

Senna's passing, the drama of which was captured brilliantly in a documentary feature film recently, acted as a catalyst to drive through a raft of safety features for both the cars and tracks that figures like Stewart had long been calling for.

The governing body and FIA administrators like Max Moseley and Bernie Ecclestone deserve credit for enforcing the development of innovations such as the carbon-fiber monocoque shell that protects the drivers on impact, the neck brace that cushions the movement of the head and tethered wheels that do not fly into the crowd in a crash.

Many of these measures have been used by American motorsport and, ironically, Wheldon was a key figure in testing the 2012 Dallara IndyCars which are set to introduce a whole host of new safety features to the track next season - one of the key aspects being a bar over the wheels which would prevent cars flying into the air as Wheldon's car did.

However, a major problem for the sport, and one which Formula One no longer deals with, remains the danger of the banked curves, the compact oval circuit and unforgiving perimeters to such marquee races in the United States.

The introduction of innovations like the SAFER barrier (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) and other varieties of soft walls have no doubt improved the situation significantly in terms how crashes are cushioned but, as the weekend's race demonstrated, the risk is still great.

The close promixity of the high-speed contest is central to the American culture of motorsport and it is this constraint that keeps the endeavor so perilous. In F1 there are run-off areas, gravel traps, tire walls and grassed areas that can provide a safety net.

In IndyCar, arguably, too many cars are racing at speeds that are too great leaving no time for reaction. The fact that safety cars are often counter-productive by actually bunching-up a more well-spread field can also compound what is already a difficult logistical challenge.

Maybe now is the time to question whether cars capable of such velocity should be racing on circuits like the Vegas bowl, which is signficantly smaller than the Indianapolis Speedway, and whether there is a need for drivers to have more margin for error in their sport?

In reaction to his friend's death, newly crowned IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti said: "[Racing] is what we love to do, it's what we live for." Hopefully, in the future it can also be a sport you do not have to die for.

I have always been intrigued by athletes who can perform under pressure. While many would crumble when the heat is on, they not only perform, they excel.

Being a racing driver is about as pressured as it can get. At speeds sometimes in excess of 200 miles per hour, these guys have to make split-second decisions with courage and skill in order to win a race and stay out of trouble. The sort of trouble that can be very bad for your health!

I was lucky enough to experience first-hand what these drivers go through when former DTM champion and F1 test driver Gary Paffett agreed to teach me how to drive a Mercedes C63 at Brands Hatch near London.

All drivers like to inspect the track at close quarters, so we walked the circuit first to give me a simplified idea of what to expect. Gary then took me for a spin before handing me the keys.

My first thoughts were of how claustrophobic and hot it felt in a race suit and helmet – and putting my foot down just made the temperature rise. Brands Hatch is a small circuit with no real straights to speak of, meaning there is never any time to relax because every corner is a challenge that could end in disaster. Your foot is permanently tap-dancing between pedals, braking as late as you dare into terrifyingly tight corners.

The car is capable of traveling at 180 miles per hour (290 km/hr) and I have been asked since how fast I was going, but the truth is that I don't know. I never once took my eyes off the road to check the speedo!

It didn't take me long to realize that driving a high-performance car on a challenging circuit is incredibly demanding. It is mentally exhausting, and fighting against the laws of physics to keep the car on the racing line is physically draining.

When I mentioned to Gary that I was tiring, he rather curtly suggested that we return to the pits! Fair enough, no point in causing any unnecessary damage. I had been given a very priveleged glimpse into the world of a racing driver.

Gary was a great sport, and part of our deal was that he would experience my world for a day, so that was how he found himself next to me again but this time in front of a live camera presenting World Sport.

It felt very similar to our experience in the car, except the roles were reversed. There can be plenty of distractions in a live studio, but I suggested that Gary keep his eyes on the "road" - the teleprompter.

I also told him how important it was to be committed. One trick to being a TV anchor is to do it with conviction, be yourself, go for it, and never allow stray thoughts to enter your mind. All disciplines that I'm sure have helped him succeed on the track.

Just as I was nervous in the car, Gary had a few butterflies in the studio. But once he'd worked out that the teleprompter will keep up with your pace of delivery, meaning things can spiral out of control as you are forced to deliver lines at breakneck pace, he rose to the challenge and spoke almost perfectly.

For a beginner on live TV, a few minor stumbles were permitted .... After all, there were plenty of moments when I went way off-line on the track.

In many ways, our jobs are similar. They are both "live," forcing you to think quickly on your feet in real time under real pressure.

But the difference between us is that if you make a mistake at the wheel, there will be an expensive repair bill and you better like hospital food. If I make a mistake, live on air, usually the only thing that is wounded is your pride.

I think we were both only too happy to return to our day jobs, but we both had a lot of fun and I think have a newfound appreciation and respect for the other's profession.

It's a little-known fact that Michael Schumacher got his big break in Formula One because another driver had been jailed for 2 months.

In 1991, Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot was locked up for assaulting a London taxi-driver, forcing him to miss four races including his home one at Spa. Schumie stepped in to the cock-pit and the rest, as they say, is history.

With the sponsor 7-Up displayed prominently and prophetically on his nose-cone, Schumacher qualified for his first F1 race in 7th position. Clutch problems meant he retired on his first lap, but he impressed so much that he was immediately snapped up by Flavio Briatore and the Benetton Ford team, who coincidentally were sponsored by Mild Seven, where he won the first of his record seven drivers' championships.

Perhaps the sport's most successful driver was destined to be so, but his legacy isn't so clear.

20 years after it all began, Schumacher will no doubt be reflecting on his career when he returns to Spa this weekend. While no-one can doubt his unparalleled success and his numerous record-breaking feats, it is by no means clear that he is the sport's best-ever driver.

Motor-racing is as much about the machine as the man and Juan Manuel Fangio, who won five titles, is viewed by many as a better pilot. Ask many of today's drivers who they regard as the best and they'll tell you it was the late Ayrton Senna.

Complicating Schumacher's legacy is the fact that there are several question marks against his achievements. His first two titles were controversial, he was disqualified from a whole championship in 1997 for cheating and he bent the rules on numerous occasions to ensure that he got the result he wanted.

And then there's his much-vaunted comeback; returning to a fanfare with Mercedes, two years after his retirement. So far he's done nothing to enhance his reputation and is frequently out-performed by his teammate Nico Rosberg.

F1 fans are passionate about their sport and their favourite drivers aren’t just the ones with the biggest numbers after their name.

While Ferrari followers globally rejoiced in the era of dominance that Schumacher delivered in the first half of the last decade, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve or Fernando Alonso might even be more popular.

Would it be fair to say that Schumacher won everything bar the hearts of the legion of F1 fans around the world?

It would be a tidy book-end to Schumacher’s career if he was able to win another world championship, but
that seems very unlikely. Given the way his comeback has gone, he’d surely be delighted with a 92nd race win. And to do that for a seventh time around the classic twists and turns of Spa-Francorchamps would warm the hearts of F1 romantics everywhere.

At 42 years of age, Michael Schumacher remains one of his sport's most intriguing characters, but perhaps his biggest victory will come on the day when he wins over his critics.