How to Choose A Favorite F1 Driver

Please indulge me.

It seems less and less likely that Nick Heidfeld is going to race in 2010. I am now burdened with the sad task of picking a new favorite driver. Right now, I'm thinking Adrian Sutil of Force India or Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber. But what I will do right now is a process of elimination.* I don't know what the result will be. Of course, my criteria are subjective and non-sensical.

I start with 21 confirmed drivers.

1. It would be too easy to just root for a past champion. So Hamilton, Button, Alonso, and Schumacher would be out. (17 drivers left.)

2. I can't pick Kubica because he took away Heidfeld's only real chance of winning a race in Montreal in 2008. (16 left.)

3. No rookie drivers. (13 left.)

4. No old guys that are about to retire either, which means Jarno, Reubens, and de la Rosa are eliminated. (10 left.)

5. I refuse to root for the Yankees, and Ferrari. Ergo, tchau to Massa. (9 left-- Rosberg, Vettel, Webber, Sutil, Liuzzi, Buemi, Kovaleinen, Timo Glock, Kamui.)

6. I am an equal opportunity fan. Since Heidi was German, my next favorite driver has to be a non-German. (5 left-- Webber, Liuzzi, Buemi, Kovaleinen, Kamui.) I like where this is going.

7. No scrubs. (4 left-- Webber, Liuzzi, Kovaleinen, Kamui.)

8. No rookie teams. (3 left-- Webber, Liuzzi, Kamui.)

9. No square jawed Australians. (2 left-- Liuzzi and Kamui.)

10. Must have a decent shot of getting out of Q1. (1 left-- Kamui.)

Let's see how well this works out. I'm really not happy with the "winner". Gosh, I hope Renault hires Heidfeld.

*If this experiment works, it can be used for NASCAR as well.

Picture source.