Everything is set to change this F1 season as all the eyes turn to Australia for the inaugural Grand prix coming weekend. The rules have changed and so have the drivers and after 12 days of winter testing- four days in Spain and eight in Bahrain the truth is no one knows what to expect when the lights go out in Albert Park on March 16th.
The defending champions Red Bull Racing did suffer a disastrous pre-race test season which was dominated by Mercedes and Williams while Ferrari and Force India are being considered as the dark horses in the 2014 season. Yes, we have seen a lot of changes in engines in the past such as doubling the engine capacity from 1.5-litres to 3-litres in 1966 but 2014 season witnesses too many changes in one go.
This not only includes engine capacity and aerodynamics but also the use of hybrid technology. The new machines will consume 35% less fuel than last season thanks to the new rule and even the fuel is limited to 140 litres per race. In the 2013 season teams typically used around 200 litres per race. To add more excitement, drivers are allowed to use only five power units per season rather than eight in previous season.
The dark cloud over India Grand Prix still prevails as F1 Boss Bernie Eccelstone in a media report said that the race in India might not return even in 2015 due to taxation issues but for the first time in a century F1 racing will return to Russia with Sochi International street circuit to host its first F1 race. Other calendar change include the Bahrain Grand Prix - which will be a night race.
We take a look at the Teams and the drivers this year.
TEAMS AND DRIVERS
Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel will start the season as the defending drivers champion. He secured his fourth consecutive title at the 2013 Indian Grand Prix which also saw Red Bull racing winning the fourth constructors championship. Now, the game changes, after seven seasons with Red Bull Mark Webber has moved from F1 to FIA World Endurance Championship driving for Porsche AG in its new 919 Hybrid Le Mans Prototype. Daniel Ricardo will replace Webber who leaves Scuderia Toro Rosso and joins Vettel in the Red Bull. With a Renault powered engine and not a good pre-season testing at Jerez, Red Bull will have a lot to think to defend its World Title.
Ferrari
There is some link to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari ain't there? The 7 time world champion won 6 times with the Ferrari and this talks a lot about the team. While we pray for Schumi's quick recovery, the 2014 season will see the dark horse or also known as peoples favorite and two F1 world championship holder - Fernando Alonso. He will be accompanied by Kimi Raikkonen and this is the first time since 1954 that Ferrari have contested a season with two world drivers champion in the Team. While Ferrari has won the Constructors championship 16 times and have total of 221 GP wins both maximum by any team, I'm sure they are in with not just a few podium finishes but a strong eye on both drivers and constructors championship
McLaren
Mclaren has to get everything right. The Mercedes powered team saw Sergio Perez leaving the team after a single season. He will be replaced by a 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 series Champion and Mclaren young driver programme member Kevin Magnussen who will race alongside team mate and 2009 world champion Jenson Button. Jenson finished 9th in the previous season with 73 points with Mclaren Mercedes finishing 5th on the constructors championship with 122 points.
Mercedes
The Mercedes team remains unchanged, why? Well they started as hot favorites last season with four consecutive poles eventually leading to the first win with Nico winning the Monaco GP followed by a win at Silverstone and Hamilton winning the Hungary GP. Both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton raced well to finish ahead of Ferrari in the 2013 season but will have to pull up their socks to go past Red Bull.
Williams
Felipe Massa joins Williams replacing Pastor Maldonado leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season after racing with the team for 8 years. He alongside Valtteri Bottas will be racing for Williams. But the other big news is Williams will feature first women driver in two decades; Susie Wolff as she will be participating in practice sessions at Silverstone and the German Grand Prix in July.
Lotus
2013 season was the best season for Lotus with the team finishing with 315 points and 4th on the constructors championship. With Kimi no longer with the team and Pastor Maldonado moving from Williams to Lotus to replace Kimi with Romain Grosjean retaining his place in Lotus, it will be interesting to see the team's performance without Kimi Raikkonen.
Caterham
Kamui Kobayashi will return to F1 with Caterham after spending the 2013 season competing in the World Endurance Championship. He will partner with GP2 regular Marcus Ericsson who is also the first Swedish driver in F1 after Stefan Johansson, who retired in 1991. This decision by Caterham left both of its 2013 season drivers Giedo Van der Garde and Charles Pic without a drive and both went on to take reserve driver roles with Sauber and Lotus respectively.
Sauber
Sauber again saw a big shift in terms of driver changes. Nico Hulkenberg left Sauber to join Force India and Adrian Sutil joins Sauber from Force India the Esteban Gutierrez remains in the Ferrari powered Sauber team. The 2013 saw Sauber finishing 7th on the constructors championship finishing with 57 points.
Force India
Force India looks aggressive this season. The team finished 6th on the constructors championship last season with 77 points and the team coming in with two new drivers. Sergio Perez joins Force India leaving Mclaren after a single season with the team. He joins Nico Hulkenberg. As a result of Hulkenberg and Perez deal, Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil loses their seat with the team. While Sutil joins Sauber, di Resta left F1 entirely returning to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series.
Marussia
Joined F1 in 2010 as Virgin and took up the name of major shareholders and Russian Sportscar maker Marussia in 2012. After a promising start in the 2013 season by outperforming rivals like Caterham, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi will continue to serve the Ferrari power unit team.
Scuderia Toro Rosso
In 2013, STR Ferrari did notch up a handful of top 10 finishes notably a 6th finish in Canada. However, Daniel Ricardo leaves STR and to fill his seat the team chooses GP3 series champion Daniil Kvyat who will be partnered by Jean - Eric Vergne.
The final pre-season testing came to an end last week in Bahrain as the mind games have begun. Perez of Force India dominated the 1st day of the final pre-season test setting the fastest time of 1m 35.290s around the Sakhir Circuit.
Will Red Bulls domination continue? Will Mercedes' good pre-season testing help them win Australian Grand Prix? Will Kimi's magic work for Ferrari? Will Williams' fortune change? These are few of the many questions in our mind which will only be answered on the track this coming weekend.
