Everything you need to know about the 2018 Formula 1 season

Title favourites Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, will lock horns for their respective fifth world title as the 2018 Formula 1 season gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix on March 25.

21 races, 20 drivers, 10 teams, 2 new rookies and lots of action is expected in the new season with new rule changes that will change the identity of F1 forever.

Shark fins - the boards attached to engine covers

The 2018 cars will look pretty much the same as last year's except these two small changes: Shark fins, the boards attached to the car's engine covers, are gone, and the introduction of the halo – the cockpit protection device designed to improve driver safety in the event of an accident, and in particular to deflect debris away from the head.

Halo is a metal ring that floats above the driver's head

The Halo device is a metal ring that floats above the driver's head and has been brought in, to reduce the risk of head injuries after incidents involving Jules Bianchi and Felippe Massa.

In a bid to make F1 power units even more reliable and further reduce costs, in 2018, each driver will get just three engines for the 21-race campaign as compared to four last year.

The official F1 tyre suppliers Pirelli has also offered a broader range of compounds for 2018.

This year, seven tyre compounds will be available, rather than the previous five, all of which will be softer and the fastest tyres in Formula 1 history.

The 2018 tyres will be the fastest in Formula 1 history

2018 range in full is, hypersoft (pink), ultrasoft (purple), supersoft (red), soft (yellow), medium (white), hard (blue), superhard (orange).

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2018 line-ups

Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes are going to be very difficult to beat

Races started: 168

Pole positions: 88

Wins: 76

Podium places: 154

Championships: 4

2017 position: 1st

2017 wins / podiums: 12/26

2017 best: 1st - 12 times

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Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari haven't won a title since 2008

Races started: 949

Pole positions: 213

Wins: 229

Podium places: 727

Championships: 16

2017 position: 2nd

2017 wins / podiums: 5/20

2017 best: 1st - 5 times

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Red Bull - Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen

In 2017, Red Bull was not on par with Mercedes and Ferrari as far as pace was concerned

Races started: 244

Pole positions: 58

Wins: 55

Podium places: 148

Championships: 4

2017 position: 3rd

2017 wins / podiums: 3/13

2017 best: 1st - Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Mexico

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Force India- Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon

Force India - The recent over-achievers

Races started: 191

Pole positions: 1

Wins: 0

Podium places: 5

Championships: 0

2017 position: 4th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 4th - Spain

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Williams - Lance Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin

Williams

have

a rich history in F1

Races started: 702

Pole positions: 128

Wins: 114

Podium places: 312

Championships: 9

2017 position: 5th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/1

2017 best: 3rd - Azerbaijan

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Renault - Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz

Renault will be expecting to be closer to the front this year

Races started: 341

Pole positions: 51

Wins: 35

Podium places: 100

Championships: 2

2017 position: 6th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 6th - five times

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Toro Rosso - Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley

Toro Rosso received the hand-me-down Honda engine

Races started: 226

Pole positions: 1

Wins: 1

Podium places: 1

Championships: 0

2017 position: 7th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 4th - Singapore

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Haas - Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen

Haas - first team to reveal 2018 F1 car

Races started: 41

Pole positions: 0

Wins: 0

Podium places: 0

Championships: 0

2017 position: 8th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 6th - Austria

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McLaren - Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne

McLaren - they dumped Honda engines in

favour

of Renault

Races started: 821

Pole positions: 155

Wins: 182

Podium places: 485

Championships: 8

2017 position: 9th

2016 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 7th - Malaysia, Singapore

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Sauber- Marcus Ericsson, Charles Leclerc

This season, Sauber have a backing from Alfa Romeo

Races started: 440

Pole positions: 1

Wins: 1

Podium places: 27

Championships: 0

2017 position: 10th

2017 wins / podiums: 0/0

2017 best: 8th - Spain

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2018 calendar

#1. March 25, Melbourne, Australia

#2. April 8, Sakhir, Bahrain

#3. April 15, Shanghai, China

#4. April 29, Baku, Azerbaijan

#5. May 13, Barcelona, Spain

#6. May 27, Monte Carlo, Monaco

#7. June 10, Montreal, Canada

#8. June 24, Le Castellet, France

#9. July 1, Spielberg, Austria

#10. July 8, Silverstone, Great Britain

#11. July 22, Hockenheim, Germany

#12. July 29, Budapest, Hungary

#13. August 26, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

#14. September 2, Monza, Italy

#15. September 16, Marina Bay, Singapore

#16. September 30, Sochi, Russia

#17. October 7, Suzuka, Japan

#18. October 21, Austin, USA

#19. October 28, Mexico City, Mexico

#20. November 11, Sao Paulo, Brazil

#21. November 25, Yas Marina, UAE