In my time, I have been a fan of drivers and a fan of F1 teams. At one time, I was even an enthusiastic supporter of one of the designers, Gordon Murray of Brabham fame. But, like Patrick, of Motorsport Ramblings, I thought I was over all that and could now enjoy the sport purely for its own sake, without the need for partisanship (apart from my dislike of Ferrari, of course).
Dr Mario Theissen and Robert Kubica
That was until I noticed Dr Mario Theissen, the boss of BMW's F1 effort. The more I study the guy and his public pronouncements, the more I think that he's a winner. There he is, the architect of a team that has done more each year than its stated goals, a team that is now recognized to be seriously threatening the big two, and still he keeps a cool head, refusing to set targets beyond what his team can realistically achieve. The man does not dream - he makes things happen!
Take his most recent assessment of his young star driver, Robert Kubica. No, no, says Theissen, he has no illusions that Robert is a genuine challenger for the championship this year. That must wait until 2009, he says.
Yet he is speaking of a driver who is only six points behind the lead and who is expected to win at least one race this year. We all know that Kubica could be the one to benefit from McLaren's refusal to adopt a lead driver strategy and Felipe Massa's continuing battle for head honcho status with Kimi Raikkonen. It would not be the first time that a driver wins the championship after winning only one or two races, while others in better cars take points from each other.
So is Dr Mario really that pessimistic or is he keeping the lid on any unrealistic dreams amongst the team members? I think it is just very clever strategy on his part. He is human and must sometimes think that perhaps they can do the trick this year, ahead of the schedule he has set. But he knows that much depends on the performance of the other drivers and teams and, perhaps, even more depends on luck. There is no reason for him to start bragging - that time will come if Robert manages to sneak the trophy after all.
Ron Dennis has already revealed his opinion that BMW will not be able to keep up with the leaders' pace of development. I can imagine the good doctor's reaction on hearing that: "Excellent, Ron, you keep on believing that." Dr Mario will even encourage such thoughts in the opposition by expressing his own certainty that this is not BMW's year. It does not affect the reality of the situation, even if BMW have some clever developments on the way; it lulls his competition into complacency and lets his team concentrate on their task, rather than getting over excited.
What has he got to lose, after all? If BMW come third in the manufacturers' race and Robert finishes third or fourth, they have done exactly as he has predicted. But, let Kubica win the championship and he can be pleasantly surprised and the hero of the moment. He's a clever man, that Dr Theissen.
I still think that BMW have a few surprises up their sleeve and that they will win at least one race this year. And a factor in my certainty is Dr Theissen's record of exceeding his targets year by year. As his comments on the Mosley fiasco indicate, he is a racing man and just wants to get back to racing without all the political nonsense. That puts him in the same mold as Sir Frank Williams and we know how many championships he has won.
It all means that I find myself once more rooting for one team more than any other. Which is strange, really, as I have little time for BMW as a car manufacturer (solid, German, undeniably good cars but a little common, wouldn't you say?). In the end it comes down to my admiration for the good doctor and the excellent team he has built. They call him Super Mario and I think that's an understatement.