Michael Schumacher... No, don't turn the page yet. I'll try to make this less boring than watching Schumacher drive round in a big circle 70-odd times.

But then again, that's hardly the most severe test of journalism, is it?

Schumacher's domination of Formula One is so complete that it wouldn't have been much of a surprise had his "opponents" lined up on the start/finish straight in Magny-Cours yesterday and given him a guard of honour as he took the chequered flag.

Then again, the shameful decision by Ferrari to order Rubens Barrichello to move aside and allow Schumacher to win in Austria stripped motor racing of what credibility it ever had.

Other individuals have cast a giant shadow over their respective sports down the years.

But no one ever complained that the late Sir Don Bradman made cricket boring when he played, or latterly Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar.

Even when the West Indies were sweeping all before them for more than ten years during the 1970s and 80s, there was respect for their achievements - not a long line of critics claiming the sport lacked excitement.

Similarly, Tiger Woods's collapse on Saturday showed that it is not one individual but in fact Mother Nature who holds the balance of power in golf.

But Schumacher's talent, coupled with Ferrari's technical superiority, has made watching Formula One a tiresome experience for even the sport's biggest fans.

Remarkably, TV viewing figures are holding up and are even on the increase in this country.

Elsewhere in Europe, however, the public are turning off in their millions.

It's just not exciting enough, even for the sport's die-hard devotees. Where are the personalities? Where are the battles and rivalries that Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, among others, once had?

Big changes are needed, and something radical is called for.

How about this, then?

Think back a few years, when the BBC screened not only Formula One, but also another entertaining motor sport.

That was the Wacky Races, and saw cartoon characters Dick Dastardly and Muttley setting traps for rivals including Penelope Pitstop and the magnificently-named Pat Pending.

Unsafe it might have been, but it made for compulsive viewing.

And watching Schumacher and Co try to avoid an oil slick here and a boulder there would be infinitely more exciting than this year's exercise in boredom.