Michael Schumacher, who won seven World Championship titles and finished runner-up a further three times, admits to being astonished by the new rule whereby the champion will be the driver with the most wins as opposed to the driver with most points.

Admitting that there are a number of question marks ahead of the new season, and that this adds to the excitement, the German, writing on his own website, continues: "I doubt the same goes for the new rules given out on such a late moment prior to the season - something which to me is really, well, astonishing, as in all the years, when the majority wanted to have a rule change for a good reason, they always said that would not be possible in a short term or so late before a season.

"I cannot imagine those changes to help F1," he continues, "especially regarding the new system to find the champion. I cannot see how it makes sense to eventually have a world champion who has less points than the driver coming in second, even if I also think it is a good move to try to strengthen the winner's position."

Looking ahead to the new season, the German, who has attended a number of tests over the winter, writes: "The picture to me in the moment is that there are several teams able to be in the front, besides us (Ferrari) there are Renault and Toyota, and BMW and Williams as well - on the other hand, after Barcelona you clearly have to say that Ross' team was outstanding. They were one second in front, and if they can take this into the season they are strong as well - even if probably the big teams will cut that advantage away with time. McLaren at the moment looks pretty bad."

Of Ferrari, he adds: "As a fan of motorsports and of Ferrari. The last impressions were showing that we look pretty good and should be in the position to fight for the world championship titles."