No team polarises fans quite like Ferrari: some believe that they can do no wrong, despite a vast and growing body of evidence to the contrary; other, sounder minds put them in roughly the same category as Lucius Malfoy, Jabba the Hutt and Sandi Toksvig.

Until fairly recently, the team had a reputation for passionate disorganisation, which occasionally somehow produced a decent car, and there was no end of very good drivers queuing up to put their mark on a contract for the scuderia, only to be disappointed by the tractor they were given to race.

The Brawn/Todt/Schumacher/Byrne axis changed all that. Suddenly the cars were quick, driveable and bullet-proof, while behind the scenes this highly political team fostered its "special relationship" with the FIA, leading to all manner of dubious rule interpretations in favour of the red cars.

That the team inspires such extreme reactions is partly a product of its own success (many people love to hate the ultra-successful - just ask Man Utd, Bill Gates or Patrick Kielty) but also because of the strutting arrogance and faux innocence with which it has been achieved. The lesson, which seems to be repeatedly lost on Ferrari, is to win, lose and get caught breaking the rules with equal good grace.

Some of our readers doubtless question the extent of dotdotdotcomma's continued antipathy towards the scuderia but when repeatedly faced with the team's insufferable arrogance in victory, sanctimonious posturing at perceived wrongs and instinctive refusal to accept blame, it's the only sane response.

There. We got all the way through that without once calling them a bunch of cheating c*nts.

Jarno Trulli is a man of contradictions¹: his speed over one lap is electrifying, yet his race pace is often less impressive; he's an Italian, yet he has a Finnish first name²; he's strong, yet gentle³.

Trulli often transcends the limits of his car during qualifying to place himself higher up the grid than he had any right to. The shortcomings of his vehicle are then revealed during the race, when the "Trulli train" forms behind him and drivers blessed with faster cars have until Jarno's first pit-stop to consider how they might improve their own qualifying performance.

It's either that or the fact that Jarno just loses interest during races. The jury's still out.

Trulli's admirers point to his first F1 victory, at Monaco in 2004, as evidence of the Italian's smoothness, precision and feel, which - while admittedly making him sound like one of those multi-bladed razors - does seem to be the prevailing view of the man as a driver.

Jarno has his own range of karts and is co-owner of a vineyard, which has allowed him to cultivate the endearing habit of sending his friends a case of Trulli wine now and then. Should anyone have any information regarding how to have one's name added to this mailing list, please send it to the usual address.


¹No he isn't.
²Imagine that. It's like a pathetic, fawning, dribbling, little Ferrari fan from England calling his son Enzo.
³It's possible that your chronicler got a little carried away at this point, as a result of being (a) a bit of a Trulli fan, and (2) a bit drunk.

After Lotus, there was Caterham; as it was in the 1960s with road cars, so it was in 2011 in F1. Lotus Racing team owner Tony Fernandes, keen to avoid further legal action from Group Lotus, opted to change his squad's name to Caterham, a car manufacturer that he did own. The cars would keep their iconic green and yellow livery but could no longer claim any link with the original Team Lotus. And, we have to say, quite right too.