More of a whimper than a bang really, but the 2001 season ended the way it had begun. And pretty much the way it went all year really.

FAT LADY STUCK IN HUNGARY - SEASON ENDS ANYWAY

More of a whimper than a bang really, but the 2001 season ended the way it had begun. And pretty much the way it went all year really. Michael Schumacher won again. Williams looked promising but not quite there yet and David Coulthard looked like he'd make a really good #2 driver for some mid-pack team.

The race was actually pretty entertaining given that (a) Schumacher's win was never seriously in doubt, and (b) the much-hyped race for 2nd place in the Drivers' Championship was of very little interest to anybody not named Barrichello.

It was nice to see, though, that Montoya at least kept it respectable, and there is still room for some optimism that next season will not be a one-horse race (and I'm not talking about the power of the Jaguar engine here). Actually, next season could be Ferrari's last competitive year for a while, as the latest rumour suggests that Ferrari are going to replace Barrichello with an Italian for 2003. If that happens, we could be in for an entertaining season from the Scuderia. I assume that Michael will have the sense to be a long, long way away when this happens.

But enough of 2003 for now. The final race of the 2001 season did produce some excitement and some passing on the track. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of it. Maybe the TV director was too obsessed with having one of the sponsor's billboards in the background of every single shot. I can't imagine why. Who was the sponsor again?

Apparently, Barrichello and Montoya overtook each other twice in the space of 15 seconds but we didn't get to see that. I hear that Barrichello had to go onto the grass to pass Ralf at 130R but we only saw that pass from the in-car camera. Ralf got a penalty for straight-lining the chicane (the first time) but who'd want to see that anyway. At least with this abundance of ignorance, nobody's going to bore you with his or her opinion as to whether or not the penalty was justified. (Of course, it was justified if for no other reason than the fact that he got away with two other misdemeanors so the law of averages would tell you that he deserved at least one stop and go penalty).

It was kind of interesting that Mika Hakkinen would gift Coulthard a meaningless podium position as a way of saying thank you for the help that DC had previously given him. Can you feel the love? I think DC may have had it right when he said that Mika just couldn't face one more of those stupid interviews.

And as for Mika, well out in the East, he rides off into the west, with his car heading West even when it's going north. And that car was heading South all year. It's been a while since we've watched a Formula One race without Mika Hakkinen - well a couple of months anyway. He may be missed next year but not as much as he was missed this year. While clearly he is not the natural talent that Michael Schumacher is, he was at least good enough to make things interesting from 1998 to 2000. Can you imagine what it would have been like if DC had been Schumacher's strongest challenger for the last four years! Next year we should have a couple of other challengers so Mika can take a well-earned rest after single handedly keeping the excitement alive for three out of the last four seasons.

And while we're feeling maudlin, spare a thought for Jean Alesi. Whatever happened to him? With two ounces of business sense and a brief pause between 'too immature' and 'too old' Jean could have been World Champion. The end of his career has come as a merciful release and at least ending it with Jordan has given it some measure of dignity that it would not have had with Prost. If Alesi still has the fire, I hope he does go to CART. It may be too late for him to be a Champion there either, but he could have a good year or two that might help erase some of the "if onlys" from his mind.

RALF STILL AIMING FOR TITLE OF "THE STUPID SCHUMACHER BROTHER"

Having just gotten his butt kicked by his teammate in Italy and the US, and wanting to state his point before he got his butt kicked in Japan, Ralf Schumacher last week publicly implored his Williams team to impose team orders for next season. Maybe Ralf is having a little identity crisis when he looks in the mirror but somebody has to tell him that he is not his brother. Sure, emulating somebody you admire is fine, but there comes a point when you cross the line from respect and admiration to 'Single White Female'. Stop him before he cuts his hair. Oh. Too late.

THE BENETTON BLUES

Ever since losing Michael Schumacher to Ferrari, Benetton has been the most appropriately liveried car on the grid. In just six years they've gone from Champions to Minardi's inspiration. Now they've gone altogether. In a statement, Rocco Benetton (remember that stupid experiment?) claimed that Benetton would now be able to devote their complete attention to their wooly sweater division and hoped to become World Wooly Sweater Champions within 5 years. Benetton will be missed. But not much. Their demise brings Renault back into the field 100% and that has to be good for F1. Let's just hope that Renault was sandbagging this year because they didn't want the Benetton engineers taking all their secrets with them to the Wooly Sweater Division.