Pit Stop: Plenty of new story lines - and some old - as F1 teams gather in Melbourne to start another season of thrills and drama

In the trees around the English countryside, birds are busy making their nests in the bare branches before spring arrives. But in the factories of Formula One teams nearby, they are a little ahead of their feathered friends.

A busy winter is over and their cars have already been airfreighted to Australia, ready for the first grand prix in Melbourne this weekend. There may not be the same wholesale changes to the cars that we experienced in 2014, but nevertheless the sport has managed to whip itself, and its loyal fans, into a frenzy.

The most important issue is who is going to set the pace in Australia. Preseason testing would suggest Mercedes are going to continue where they left off last season - in dominant form.

There is good news for fans of Ferrari, who seem to be in a much better place than 12 months ago. Given the horrible season the "prancing horse" had in 2014, that might not be saying much, but after the management shakeup past season, things are starting to look promising on the track.

They will be looking to give Williams a run for their money. Sir Frank's outfit was fast last season, and will be looking to carry on exploiting the advantage of a Mercedes engine. Red Bull on the other hand still have to contend with the less than satisfactory Renault engine which is still playing catch up.

Lotus might well be a surprise package with its Mercedes engine, but Force India could struggle. Cashflow problems meant they only turned up for a few days of preseason testing.

McLaren were there for all of the testing sessions, but it turned out to be a disaster. They completed only a fraction of the laps the other teams did due to mechanical problems, and the long heralded return of Honda to partner the team has not been the smoothest.

Fernando Alonso will be sitting out the Australian GP after his crash in testing, and given the performance of his new McLaren, he might secretly be relieved.

Vettel seems to have taken a better mood to Alonso's old team Ferrari, with the Italians looking decidedly cheerful about the future. It's rumoured that Kimi Raikkonen has been spotted smiling. More than once.

There are three F1 newbies this year; a couple of 22-year-olds in Felipe Nasr and Carlos Sainz Jnr and the 17-year-old Max Verstappen. The son of Dutch F1 driver, Jos "the boss", there were more than raised eyebrows when this tender youth was unveiled by Toro Rosso. Some feel he should never have got a super licence, but if he's got half the steel of his father, he will do alright.

At the other end of the spectrum, world champion Lewis Hamilton is limbering up for another battle royal with his teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton was also raising eyebrows when it was reported he wants his new contract to be worth £50 million (HK$585 million) a year. That's almost £1 million a week. How do you spend that much money?

It puts the madness of F1 into sharp relief when you realise that is more than the annual budget of the smaller teams.

No wonder F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has had to advance three teams some money to get them to Australia in the first place.

Even the great news that the defunct Marussia team has been reborn as Manor GP is soured a little when it emerges that the team are only on the grid as a result of a £30 million personal gamble by a British entrepreneur. The finances of F1 will be another running theme this year.

There are other changes for the new season - a virtual safety car, more flexibility with engine development, the Mexican GP back on the calendar, as well as no double points and no standing restarts.

But we've run out of space. Not to worry, there are 20 races and nine months to enjoy.