This is risky business. But I have carried out the necessary risk assessment and, just for a laugh, I’m hitting you with some lists.

First, a confession. I make a lot of lists. I run a lot of my life from these lists. This is not so much because my memory is failing but more because these lists help me to achieve more, to be more productive each day. Sad it may be, but there is something satisfying about ticking off the tasks at the end of a day. To make matters even sadder, I never go anywhere without a pen and a notepad. Before this regime, many ideas and inspirations were forgotten, many important names and numbers consigned to scraps of paper that made no sense.

Here, then, is a list of the highlights of 2008:

1.    Sebastien Vettel winning at Monza
2.    Felipe Massa’s conduct after the Brazilian Grand Prix
3.    Allan McNish winning Le Mans
4.    Adrian Sutil heading for the points in Monaco
5.    Valentino Rossi in the rain at Indianapolis.
6.    The Goodwood Revival
7.    Fernando Alonso winning in Singapore
8.    Formula 3 cars in the rain at Pau
9.    The atmosphere at the A1GP race in Durban
10.    Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca

And the low points of 2008:

1.    The Grand Prix of Valencia. The race, not the place
2.    Kimi Raikkonen barging into Sutil in Monaco
3.    Subaru pulling out of the World Rally Championship
4.    The FIA announcing the move to Donington during the British GP
5.    Kimi Raikkonen hitting the wall in Singapore
6.    The whole weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix
7.    Penalties for overtaking
8.    Audi pulling out of the ALMS in North America
9.    GP2 races not broadcast on mainstream terrestrial TV
10.    Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton not sharing the World Championship

And I predict, here’s the risk, that these will happen in 2009:

1.    Sebastien Vettel will win a race for Red Bull Racing
2.    Robert Kubica will be in the hunt for the World Championship
3.    The Honda F1 team, in some different guise, will race in 2009
4.    Sebastien Loeb will race a Peugeot 908 HDi sports car
5.    David Richards will return to Grand Prix racing
6.    Toyota will withdraw its F1 team at the end of the year
7.    Jonathan Palmer’s new F2 series will be a success
8.    Peugeot will win Le Mans
9.    Fernando Alonso will win more than one Grand Prix
10.  Valentino Rossi will sign a Ferrari contract

So, three more lists. Well, it’s that time of year, and boy, we need a merry Christmas. Feel free to disagree with all of the above ramblings.