Santa Claus; The Easter Bunny; musicians who can sing. These are just some of my long held beliefs that have been shattered over the years. Today, another one of those tenets was destroyed (unintentionally) by Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun.

Dean, who probably mingled with plenty of folks this weekend in Montreal, reported today that a couple of the ‘celeb’s in the paddock were paid for their appearances! My first reaction was shock since I have grown up believing in the glamor and glitz of F1. I bought the story hook line and sinker that Formula 1 was an elite sport for an elite crowd. How wrong I was.

Even more hurtful was the identity of these paid ‘A’ listers - though in my opinion such a term flatters this pair. Montrealers didn’t get Tomkat or Brangelina. Nope, they got Pam Anderson and P Diddy! Apparently they were a steal at $100,000 and $200,000 respectively.

So, is this what F1 has been reduced to - buying tacky celebrity endorsements to perpetuate the illusion of glamor? Is the sport spending good money on cheesy celebs because it can’t draw the A-list? I’m totally disillusioned but a few thousand bucks and a VIP pass to the next race might make me feel just a bit better.

Are you listening Bernie?

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A year ago BMW driver Robert Kubica sat in the wreckage of his car awaiting an airlift to hospital. Today he stood atop the podium, winner of the Canadian Grand Prix. What a difference a year makes.

Kubica has threatened to win several times this season but the overall pace of the McLaren and Ferrari cars has denied BMW and left the team looking to take advantage of a mistake from their rivals. Today, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton handed them just such an opportunity on a silver platter.

When the safety car was deployed on lap 18 so Adrian Sutil’s car could be removed, the front runners all pitted for fuel and tires. Hamilton, who had led from the start, found himself third when exiting his pit box. In his eagerness to catch up he failed to see the red light at the end of the pit lane that instructs drivers to wait until the safety car has passed before proceeding. He slammed into the back of the stationary Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. Both drivers were unable to continue.

The melee left Kubica in a great position to win if he could avoid any drama for the rest of the race. Fortunately for Kubica, his only real threat on the track was teammate Nick Heidfeld who was operating on a different fuel strategy.

Predictably, the safety car jumbled the field, putting several faster cars behind slower drivers but both BMW drivers were able to take advantage. Heidfeld stormed off into the lead, able to pit and rejoin the race ahead of his teammate with help from slower cars positioned between them on the track.

Kubica, driving with a lighter fuel load and able to find a faster ultimate pace around the Montreal track jumped past his teammate during his second pit stop. Once the stops were completed by all the drivers, Kubica moved up to first, followed by his teammate to complete a perfect 1-2 finish for BMW.

The race proved to be an opportunity for midfield teams as well. With so many front runners failing to finish, the smaller teams doggedly fought to the flag to the delight of the fans. Red Bull, Toyota, Honda and Torro Rosso all walked away with unexpected spoils.

BMW scored their first win in style with a strong 1-2 finish which catapulted them into second place in the Constructors Championship, three points behind Ferrari. Kubica now finds himself in the lead of the driver’s standings with a third of the season completed.

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Once more, the Canadian Grand Prix produces an historic race and an incredibly unpredictable result.

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I like Top Gear. I really do because it’s great entertainment. That’s exactly why the show’s cast does not belong in F1 and why the BBC needs to rethink their rumored decision to include them in it’s 2009 F1 presentations.

First, sport should be entertaining, but not entertainment. Top Gear is as much about the witty one-liners from Jeremy Clarkson as it is the cars. In reality, the cars on Top Gear are just props for satirical automotive commentary - not that there’s anything wrong with that, it just doesn’t have any place in sports broadcasting. Fans expect informed and objective analysis of what’s happening on the track when it happens. That’s not something that they’re going to get from the Top Gear crew.

Second, the cars are the stars of the show, not the celebs in the broadcast booth. Bernie Ecclestone might disagree, but fans tune into F1 to see the cars (and drivers) not TV types. Most established entertainers would admit to not wanting to play second fiddle to a bunch of noisy cars following one another around in circles. Who can blame them but that’s the job.

Finally there’s the man, Jeremy Clarkson. A lot of what he says is right on the money – especially about F1 being sterile and boring but it’s hard to see him promoting a product he has so many problems with.  Absolutely there are things wrong with F1 but reminding the audience of them every two weeks will not grow the viewership.

A true fan is needed in the broadcast booth that both knows and loves F1 and is prepared to be the unofficial ambassador of the sport. Handing the microphone to anyone not relishing that role is a dire mistake.

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Jim Clark in a Formula 2 race in Hockenheim, Germany.  Amidst the controversy that is overshadowing Formula One, it’s worth taking a moment to fondly look back on the last of the gentleman grand prix drivers.

In my opinion, Clark was the most gifted driver to ever sit in a race car - fast, smooth and incredibly sympathetic towards the car.  But for the fragility of the Lotuses he drove, he might have completely dominated the 60’s.  I am not alone in my opinion. He was also held in the highest regard by his peers and his death shocked them all to a man.  It was Ferrari driver Chris Amon who remarked of Jim’s death, “If it can happen to (Jimmy) what chance do the rest of us have.”

Like many drivers of his day, Clark drove several different types of cars and his skill in multiple disciplines rivals even that of Mario Andretti.  Clark, in addition to his 25 grand prix wins and 2 Formula 1 World Championships (1963 and 1965), also won the Indianapolis 500 (1965) and the British Touring Car Championship (1964).  Other remarkable performances came driving a Ford Galaxy in NASCAR and the Lotus 30 and Aston Martin DBR1 at Le Mans.

It’s unlikely Jim could have existed as a Formula 1 driver today.  The farmer from the Scottish Borders was too sensitive of character for the harsh realities of racing today.  He raced in an era when it was still possible to live a normal life as a racing driver and not be burdened by the weight of money, politics and gamesmanship and the world is richer for having seen his talent displayed in perfect conditions.

The race following Clark’s death brought with it commercial advertising on the cars (Lotus) that would usher in a new chapter in racing.  With Jim’s passing, so too did the era of the gentleman racer.

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The Bahrain Grand Prix is over and the teams are heading back to Europe where the ‘real’ season will start in earnest in three weeks. The action on the track was nowhere near the excitement that goes on in Max Mosley’s bedroom but it still provided a few things worth pondering. After three rounds of the 2008 season, here are five points to consider.

1. The British press still have a beef with Fernando Alonso - Of course Lewis Hamilton would collide with Alonso! Or, if you believe some suggestions in the British Press - Fernando gave Lewis a bit of the old brake business. Come on! There was nothing to it but a racing mistake from a sophomore driver. Hamilton was flustered by a bad start, got anxious and hit a fuel-heavy Fernando in the rear - both drivers suffered as a result in the race. The countless suggestion from James Allen and Martin Brundle during the broadcast that it might have been more sinister than that was a desperate attempt at drumming up some drama that was nowhere to be seen in the race. Shame on you ITV!

2. BMW are derailing McLaren’s championship plans - The Scuderia must not know what to think when they look over their shoulders these days - the silver cars aren’t there! BMW are definitely on the move but the team from Hinwil don’t have the experience to challenge Ferrari for the title. McLaren are the team that everyone was expecting to take the fight to Ferrari - problem is, they seem to be stuck behind BMW!

3. Ferrari are running away with the season - The wunderkid from Stevenage seems to have come in contact with some Kryptonyte this season and is unable to take the fight to Ferrari. In a near repeat of last season’s closing races, Hamilton has squandered a 10 point lead in the championship and now trails Kimi Raikkonen by four points. If McLaren can’t find the pace to get around BMW and into a position to attack Ferrari, the season is all but settled. We’ll only have to wait for Jean Todt to mastermind one of his famous coin tosses to see which Ferrari driver will win the championship.

4. David Coulthard is racing his last season - Someone get this guy bigger mirrors! What can you say, the boil has come off this guy - the fire in the belly is gone along with his peripheral vision. There are a 1000 drivers who would kill to be in that Red Bull RB4 and they’re not going to have to wait much longer.

5. Renault are going backwards faster than the R28 can go forwards - Fourth, eighth, tenth - anyone else see the trend here? Renault are in need of some major upgrades on the car if they want to avoid being swallowed up by Red Bull, Toyota and Williams. Alonso has been driving well and that’s worth a few tenths but they need to find a second quickly which is unheard of in F1. If the rumors are true, and there are performance clauses in Fernando’s contract that let him leave if they aren’t competitive, then Renault have a crisis on their hands.

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