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The reigning champion Lewis Hamilton is going to be the main contender for the Formula 1 World Championship title, with his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg once again the closest rival.
The new Formula 1 season starts this weekend in Melbourne, Australia.
However, the two should not feel too safe. Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari have been working on their cars all winter long and will be ready to put the champions to a challenge.
According to TonyBet bookies, last year’s Red Bull newcomer Daniel Ricciardo should make an even bigger impact on his team this season. A stunning performance by the Aussie resulted in ousting the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and earning the team’s No. 1 pilot spot.
However, Ricciardo’s progress can be challenged by the Renault engine, which is not working as well as it used to when Adrian Newey was in charge.
Last season’s fourth-place finisher Ferrari has big plans as well. The first step towards improving their performance on the track was signing Sebastian Vettel. After losing the in-team battle to Ricciardo, the German now expects a new start with the team which managed to win the World Championship 16 times – more times than any other team on the circuit.
Valtteri Bottas and Formula 1 veteran Felippe Massa’s Williams is also looking very promising. They had really good results during the pre-season practices and despite a rather satisfactory third-place finish in the constructor’s championship last year, are looking to improve their positions even more.
Meanwhile McLaren, which finished just fifth last season is facing new challenges. After switching their engines from long-time partners Mercedes to Honda this winter, they have not been doing very well on the track.
As if that wasn’t enough, their new star pilot Fernando Alonso is out with a head injury and will not be available for the start of the season. It is obvious they will need some time to put things right with the hope of Alonso’s return bringing in some points.
A glance at the bottom of the team charts does not look very promising. With zero points in their sack last season, Sauber are unlikely to improve this year, as well as Manor, which is jolted by serious financial problems and will be happy with at least finishing a few races.
Force India, which had a rather decent season last year with 155 points, is also expected to join the end of the echelon.
So far the most unpredictable team seems to be Lotus. They have also made an engine switch from Renault to Mercedes and with their solid car-making skills, this just might turn into something interesting.
The only drawback might be the lack of financial backup to fulfill their true potential.
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