WHO AND WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR...
FERNANDO ALONSO
CAN McLaren, now powered by Renault, offer the Spaniard a car good enough to keep him happy? Semi-regular podium finishes and a win or two would represent a decent upturn, though this should hardly be acceptable for a team of McLaren’s heritage.
DANIEL RICCIARDO
HE was once the great hope. Now his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen is that. The Aussie, 28, needs a strong season to reassert his value — possibly with an eye on a seat at Ferrari or Mercedes next season.
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
HE revealed a brittle side last year in reacting petulantly to Hamilton’s superiority. The German says he is learning as he goes.
FERRARI
FAST but faltering under pressure last season, they start this year dejectedly after pre-season testing suggested they had not progressed as hoped. The other question is: will they follow through on their threat to quit over post-2020 regulations?
LEWIS HAMILTON
SAYS he doesn’t care about records. Pull the other one! He will go level with Juan Manuel Fangio on five titles if he wins this season. Then the final two peaks await before he is done: Schumacher’s 91 race wins (Hamilton is on 62) and the German’s seven titles.
WILLIAMS
FOR Mansell, Senna, Prost and Jones read Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, two paid drivers where once the legends ruled.
MAX VERSTAPPEN
THE 20-year-old has an outside chance of the title, in which case he will transform himself from rough diamond into polished gem. Seeing him go wheel to wheel with Hamilton would be a real treat.
LIBERTY MEDIA
IT’S time to show they understand F1 politics — once described as the Piranha Club — well enough to shape the future of the sport.
HONDA
DITCHED by McLaren last season, can the Japanese company prove — as engine suppliers to Toro Rosso — that they were wrongly maligned? Should they do so, cue red faces among Alonso and Co.