Last year here on Sidepodcast I introduced the new season by trying to get some positivity out there as we all sat waiting for a new season of Formula 1. On a personal point of view, I try to be as positive as I can even if there's much negativity and I think once again it's time to remind many Formula 1 fans why we should be looking forward to 2011. It's only a few weeks now until the season arrives, and even though the big kick off (well, drive off... the grid) has been pushed back a bit, I still think there's plenty that we can look forward to and I know for a fact that I am very much excited for the next year or so of Formula 1.

First off, I love Formula 1. I absolutely love it. Even when it does my head in, and politics start to come out, or we get dodgy races, I still love it to bits. No matter what rule changes there are, or whoever said this or that or whatever lame attempt Jacques Villeneuve has made to get back into the sport, it runs through my veins and really makes me excited for each race to turn up. With the unfortunate but necessary cancellation of Bahrain, the season will kick off for most at a weird hour, whether it be 5am in the morning or sometime at night, if you're not down under. Getting up at 5am wrapped in my duvet with a nice cup of tea and a pack of biscuits is just one of the fantastic things I absolutely love about fly away races, and admittedly I'm really looking forward to the return of crazy o'clock no matter how nonsensical my typing will be at that hour. Plus it's all going to kick off in one of the season's best circuits in Melbourne too, fantastic!

You know what I enjoyed too about 2010? The fact that the FIA didn't get themselves over-involved in the sport. We have all been used to Max Mosley dipping his nose into the sport and making a mess of things at times but instead Jean Todt's new ruling as FIA President saw a new regime happy to let the sport do it's things and stand back without getting politics being the main talking point over the sport itself. They should've reacted quicker with the Bahrain decision but in general the new FIA we seem to have in control seems much happier to let the sport be a sport and not make silly decisions and change races so annoyingly as it seemed to do so often before. This makes me happy, and also makes me super positive for what we may get in this season approaching once again from our new Italian mini-overlord and his FIA chums.

There is just so much to get excited about and I don't think we really give the sport enough appreciation for everything it can make us do.

But what about the drivers and the teams themselves? Well I think we're in for another pretty unpredictable year in what to expect. I mean, did you see how much Michael Schumacher struggled over the last 12 months? Nico Rosberg kind of blew him away, and it's going to be absolutely fascinating to see how much this changes with a new car and a second chance for Michael to get back at his compatriot. Of course, we have to wonder just how competitive those Red Bull drivers get again as they, for me, provided great entertainment spilling out their rivalry both on and off the track throughout the course of 2010.

Alonso proved why many regard him as the best driver in the sport by launching an almighty Ferrari comeback towards the end of the year depsite his little controversial moment in the middle. Plus, Rubens' career keeps on a-truckin'! Yahhoooo!! And why not? The man had a pretty solid 2010 keeping Williams in the points and improving the car with a huge sense of optimism in the Williams camp as they move onto 2011. It's this kind of optimism I thrive on and I really hope it's a good year for my man and this wonderful team he drives for! Even the likes of Lotus and Virgin have a chance now with new engines or better improvements and development to work from to show why they deserve to be in F1 and I'm really intrigued to see how these guys do in their follow-up season.

This is what I do love about Formula 1 though. There is just so much to get excited about and I don't think we really give the sport enough appreciation for everything it can make us do. I mean, we as fans can go into a season speculating, assessing, comparing, analysing, over analysing and then of course arguing about what we reckon is going to happen and how the season is going to pan out. But that's because we're passionate, and I'm passionate enough about this sport to see past the negatives that people want to create and look forward to an exciting, fresh new year of motor racing after a winter break.

Yes, there are new things like KERS and flappy dappy wings that wave at you, perhaps unecessary, but for all we know the racing could still be as fabulous as it has been for the past few years. I reckon it will be, personally. Formula 1 goes through ups and downs like a very, very fast controversial rollercoaster but it's still the pinnacle of motorsport that I love and I'm sure many of you do too. I mean, how incredible was it to have Twitter now that it's reached a strong level of popularity alongside Formula 1? Even more so now that the sport itself with so many personnel, drivers, team members and Jonathon Legard on the service you get to hear so much, see so much and almost be part of the sport from how personal Twitter can be now that it's integrated itself into F1 so well.

So try not to let any negatives overcome you, don't look at testing and think your team is going to struggle and of course think of the positives, looking back at some of the great few years we've had of Formula 1 action. With a fabulous line up of drivers, a strong leading pack that created multiple possibilities in champions last year and the fact that Formula 1 is in a really good place now, let's look forward to the new season when it begins in a few weeks and let's stay positive!