Pit Stop
Every year it's the same at the start of the Formula One season. I almost wish I was writing about soccer. The rules there tend not to change. Formula One, being Formula One of course, they've re-invented the wheel yet again over the winter. New teams, new circuits, new rules - and of course an old driver. Despite that, the sport seems in rude health.
Let's start with the rule changes. There is one that is more important than all others, the banning of in-race refuelling. This will have the biggest effect on the nature of racing, with all teams looking to preserve tyres. Strategy and driving style (the smoother the better) will be all-important and could well provide pivotal points in the season.
It's also made it very hard to predict who's going to rip up the tarmac once the lights go out in Bahrain. Pre-season testing may have been very useful for the teams, but for the casual observer, not knowing how much fuel was on board made interpreting the times a nightmare.
Safe to say Ferrari look back to their best and McLaren are unlikely to have the slow start they suffered in 2009. Mercedes, the rebranded Brawn team, aren't going to have the surprise element this time around, but they still have the genius of Brawn and the experience of Michael Schumacher as well as a much bigger budget.
The other team likely to be in the mix are Red Bull. Second to Brawn in last year's constructors' championship they have been making confident noises pre-season. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are a potent combination and will win races. And watch the radar for Williams. New Cosworth engines aligned with decent design might see them on the podium from time to time.
This year we have four world champions, all racing in competitive cars. Fernando Alonso finally has the machinery at Ferrari to match his talent. Jenson Button has been bold in choosing to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, but it increasingly seems like the right choice. Two British world champions in a British car could be a launch pad for a fairy-tale season. But Hamilton has to get on with Button or it will turn into a nightmare.
And then there's the S Factor. Schumacher is back. This column has consistently argued it's a bad idea. But he's decided to ignore the advice (should he have ever read it in the first place), and, let's be honest, it will be compelling to see if he still has it at the age of 41. I don't think he has enough now to win an eighth world title, but seeing that he won the other seven with Ross Brawn at his side the partnership may prove us doubters wrong.
Of course there are a lot of new teams and drivers on the grid this year. They won't be on the podium any time soon, but they will play their part. Seeing as they are around four seconds off the pace it's likely to be as moving chicanes for the front runners.
The famous green of Lotus is back, although the cash is provided not from Norfolk but Malaysia. Virgin has re-branded the Manor team. Both these teams managed to test, but the Hispania team will turn their first wheel on Friday practice in Bahrain. At least they made it for the first race, the USF1 team never did, and will not feature this season. It's all been a bit of an unseemly scramble which hasn't really reflected well on the sport.
There are a lot of fresh faces making their bow, and perhaps the standout pair are teammates at Hispania. Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna were both at GP2 team iSport a couple of years ago. Bruno is following in the footsteps of uncle Ayrton into F1 and would have made it a year earlier if Brawn hadn't decided to employ Rubens Barrichello at the 11th hour.
This column featured Karun when he was racing at iSport and highlighted how unglamorous that life was. He might have thought his chance had gone when Force India didn't use him, but it helps that the Indian GP will debut next year. He won in GP2. It might take a little longer in F1.
Finally, some really good news. By Formula One standards, much of the infighting and politics have gone. Hopefully there will be peace off the track and a great deal of argy-bargy on it. Now that would be a really cracking season.