DID YOU KNOW?

For the first time in F1 history there will be six world champions lining up on the grid: Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher. Pole position has accounted for half the winners in Melbourne – eight from 16 races. However, there have been six in the past eight years. Mark Webber, the only Australian to have raced in his home grand prix since it became part of the Formula F1 circuit in 1985, has never finished higher than fifth in 10 attempts. Webber is joined by compatriot Daniel Ricciardo on the grid this weekend. It is the first time two Australians have competed in their home grand prix. Five different manufacturers have triumphed in the past six years – Red Bull (2011), Mclaren (2010, 2008), Brawn (2009), Ferrari (2007) and Renault (2006). Although a new season, it will again initially be a case of who can stop Vettel over one lap. The German set a record of 15 poles last season and, since 2010, has led away the field on 22 occasions in the last 30 races.

Even with the threat of jet lag, the champion is not losing sleep over the season to come or his chance to become only the third man after Juan Manuel Fangio and Schumacher to win three successive titles. And he wants the hat-trick badly, despite the pile of silverware at home.

‘‘It is not keeping me awake at night,’’ Vettel said. ‘‘Winning the first world championship was a relief because you have proved to yourself that you can do it, which is more important than anything else. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t care what happens next.

‘‘Nothing has changed. I am still hungry and get upset when there are other people beating me, which is a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with losing, it is about how you come back. It would be immature to believe that nothing will go wrong. I should be smart enough to know that it will not always go my way. Even last season we had races where we could, and should, have done better. That’s life, in a way.’’

Mark Webber, Vettel’s longsuffering team-mate, was just leaving the room as the German opened up about his prospects for the year. Webber is the local hero, the man from Queanbeyan, near Canberra. He was also at the beach photoshoot but has had sand kicked in his face by the young tyro on the opposite side of the Red Bull garage.

Australia might yearn for a local winner tomorrow but Webber has never done better than fifth, even in the superior Red Bull.

He said that it was difficult to stay focused, with the constant demands for his time before his home race, and just as difficult to cope with a young driver with a chance to build on his growing reputation as one of the greats by winning a third title in a season when there will be six world champions on the grid for the first time.

‘‘Any double world champion is held in very, very high regard, there’s no question about that,’’ Webber said.

‘‘There are a lot of single world champions but when you do the double it is more than a double. Winning a championship is special but to win two is a real feather in his cap.’’