It has been a long wait. But the wait is almost over. In a few days time we’ll hear the unmistakable sound of an F1 engine coming to life on the Albert Park Circuit for the 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.
Pre-season testing did throw up some surprises but what it mostly showed that Mercedes have stepped up their game more than the other teams. There were some dramatic improvements from other teams but it just seemed that Mercedes, who were sandbagging at the test, are still supremely fast.
Lewis Hamilton goes into the season as defending champion and will want to defend that title from hard fighting team mate Nico Rosberg.
Further down the grid the shakeup at Ferrari and McLaren will make things exciting. Sebastian Vettel has said that he wants to emulate 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher and bring Ferrari back to their former glory. The sacking of staff and streamlining of business processes at Ferrari have yielded some very positive results so far. Although he will miss the first race of the season, Fernando Alonso is back at McLaren for some unfinished business at the team. If their pre-season form is anything to go by, he is going to have another tough season.
Elsewhere on the grid, we have rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr driving for Toro Rosso, while Will Stevens will drive for Manor Racing with no word yet on their second driver. Felipe Nasr makes the jump from GP2 into F1 and Marcus Ericsson is at Sauber after leaving the now dissolved Caterham F1 team.
A new addition to the Formula 1 calendar is the addition of the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The is still no confirmation about the German Grand Prix yet after the Nurburgring was dropped due to funding concerns.
It is a brand new season, with a few new drivers and with some new look teams. There is everything to play for once again.
Below are the broadcast times for the 2014 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix (All times are GMT+2):
Free Practice 1: Friday 03:30
Free Practice 2: Friday 07:30
Free Practice 3: Saturday 05:00
Qualifying: Saturday 08:00
Race: Sunday 07:00
