This weekend sees the Australian Grand Prix, the start of the 2016 Formula One Season.
So far, reports suggest that it might be a wet start to the season with Saturday’s qualifying session potentially being affected by wet weather – dry conditions are expected for race day however.
The new qualifying format may or may not shake up the grid – my gut tells me not.
The Mercedes cars will probably fly off into the distance, closely followed by Ferrari and Williams. If McLaren are in the bottom edge of the points or just slightly off that, that will be a vast improvement. To be honest, a strong set of finishes with no mechanical issues will be a vast improvement too.
I imagine that Toro Rosso are likely to beat Red Bull over the course of the season.
I think Haas will struggle in the start and become steadily better.
The rest, will jostle for position – Force India looked strong and settled in testing, Sauber may slip backward a little, Renault are a bit of an unknown but come off the back of monetary struggles and a prolonged take over which harmed progress last season and Manor, with their 1980s style logo, are probably still going to be at the back but a little closer with their shiny new Merc engine.
I can’t wait.