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The 70th Formula One season started off with a bang Down Under with unlikely hero Valtteri Bottas scripting the most memorable win of his career. The 21 Grand Prix season ends in Abu Dhabi on December 1st, the latest finale to a season since 1963.
Lewis Hamilton is all geared up for his biggest challenge as he sets his sights on winning his 6th Drivers' Championship. But it won't be easy this time around as a resurgent Ferrari looking for its first Drivers' Championship since 2007 is keen to make amends to a forgettable 2018 season where costly errors wrecked Sebastian Vettel's hopes of taking home the Championship crown.
"This is going to be the toughest battle yet. Their pace is very good at the moment.' - Hamilton said after suggesting in pre-season testing that Ferrari could be up to half a second ahead of the Mercedes. Ferrari has made some wholesale changes to their leadership pack appointing Mattia Binotto as the new boss. Binotto it is to be noted did not share a good equation with his predecessor Maurizio Arrivabene.
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Ross Brawn, Formula One's Managing Director for Motorsport is one among many who are eagerly waiting for the drama on the race tracks to begin. The Formula One veteran had this to say to reporters before the start of the season - 'I think we've got a vintage season coming up.' F1 fans world over would sure hope that this season promises everything from the title race going down to the last race in Abu Dhabi to mesmerizing on-track duels.
We take a look at the prospects of the Teams which will line up the grid this season
#10. Racing Point
This will be the first full season for Team Racing Point owned by a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll. Sergio Perez remains from the Force India days and he will be joined by Lawrence's son - Lance Stroll.
It remains to be seen if the Team is able to spring up any surprises as they did last season when Sergio Perez made the podium in Azerbaijan - the only driver from a Team other than Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull to do so all season long.
The team which took shape starting from Round #13 last year managed to score a decent 52 points and finish 7th in the pecking order. But together with the points scored by Force India, the finished a decent 5th.
Prospects: May find the going tough. Finishing inside the Top-5 looks unlikely at the moment.
#9. Williams
The spotlight will surely be on Pole Robert Kubica who is making his return to the grid for the first time since 2010 having made a comeback from a life-threatening rally accident in 2011 when he almost lost his right forearm. Kubica, who has 12 podiums and 1 race win in his career will line up alongside Formula Two Champion George Russell.
The Team hasn't really gotten off to a good start having skipped a significant part of the pre-testing trials. The car has looked the slowest of the pack and the Team was forced to make design changes ensuring that their cars conform to regulations ahead of the season start in Australia. Having finished rock bottom in 2018, Williams will find the going tough this season.
Prospects: Doesn't look bright. On the basis of what we have seen so far, another last-placed finish on the cards.
#8. McLaren
The departure of double world champion and one of the most versatile drivers - Fernando Alonso is sure to take the sheen off the team. British driver Lando Norris at just 19 years of age will be the youngest driver on the grid this season.
He will team up with Spain's Carlos Sainz Jr. In the testing phase, the car certainly looked improved compared to 2018 and McLaren who haven't had a World Champion since 2008 could well spring up a surprise or two this season.
Prospects: The team could challenge for 4th or 5th position.
#7. Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso has replaced both their drivers from 2018. Russian Daniil Kvyat returns to Toro Rosso for the third time having made his debut with the Team way back in 2014. Kvyat's teammate will be 22-year old Alexander Albon - the first driver from Thailand to line up on the grid since Prince Bira did do in 1954. Albon who won 4 Formula Two races last year will look to make the most out of his rookie season.
Prospects: Fifth or sixth.
#6. Haas
Barring Mercedes, the only Team with an unchanged line-up is Ferrari-powered Team Haas. With two experienced drivers in Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, Team Haas will be looking to do a repeat of their impressive performance in 2018 where they finished 5th. With McLaren and Toro Rosso having made healthy improvements, Haas has a battle on their hand if they were to repeat their performance of last year.
Prospects:: Fifth or sixth. Could push for fourth depending on the performance of McLaren and Toro Rosso.
#5. Alfa Romeo
The presence of one of the most enigmatic and popular Formula One drivers of all-time in Kimi Raikkonen is sure to grab eyeballs for Alfa Romeo this season. Raikkonen, who will be 40 later this year will line-up alongside 25-year old Italian Antonio Giovinazzi, who is starting his first full season.
Raikkonen has made a full circle in returning to the Team previously known as Sauber from where he started his illustrious Formula One career. The team's partnership with Ferrari has yielded dividends and so far the car looks pretty competitive.
Prospects: Sixth if not fifth will surely be on their sights. Having a former World Champion in Kimi surely helps.
#4. Renault
The spotlight will be on Australian Daniel Ricciardo who made a bold and risky move in making the move to Renault from Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo with 7 race wins in his career so far will look to prove sceptics who questioned his move to Renault wrong.
But it could well backfire on him if Red Bull is vindicated in their stand to forge a partnership with Honda. Ricciardo will line-up alongside another Formula One veteran Nico Hulkenberg who has the most starts in Formula One (157) without a podium finish.
Prospects: Repeating their achievement of finishing 4th as was in 2018 will be an achievement but far more challenging this time round.
#3. Red Bull
Max Verstappen, still only 21 years of age is now the leader of the pack at Red Bull and a lot of the Team's fortunes will hinge on this temperamental but immensely talented driver. With four seasons already under his belt, the combustive Dutch driver feels he is more responsible now. Could it be move over 'Mad Max', welcome through 'Mature Max'? Only time will tell.
On paper, no doubt the Dutchman will be a title contender. He will line up alongside Frenchman Pierre Gasly who got promoted from Toro Rosso. With Honda powering the Red Bulls for the first time, we can expect a few surprises from the Red Bull this season.
Prospects: Another third-place finish likely. But Red Bull is sure to close the gap with Mercedes and Ferrari.
#2. Mercedes
The defending champions are chasing a record sixth consecutive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth overall Drivers' Championship, but the task seems to be a lot harder than previous years.
Aided by a string of costly errors from Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in the 2018 season, Hamilton will have to be at his absolute best if he wants to get closer to Michael Schumacher's all-time tally of 7 Drivers' Championships.
On paper, the Mercedes were slower than their Ferrari counterparts in testing and the W10 was less stable compared to their nearest rivals' SF90 but Hamilton's acumen and doggedness may come in handy. Valtteri Bottas, fresh off winning the most remarkable race of his career in the season opener will also be one of the title contenders given how things stand.
Prospects: Top two guaranteed. Second this time probably?
#1. Ferrari
The most prominent Team on the F1 calendar will be looking to break its duck of not winning the Constructor's title since 2008. That's a pretty barren spell for a giant in the Sport like Scuderia Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel will be hoping that he will inch closer to winning the Drivers' title in his fifth season for the 'Prancing Horse'.
Monaco-based Charles Leclerc replaces Kimi Raikkonen as Vettel's partner having made the switchover from Sauber. Long-time Ferrari man Mattia Binotto is the Team Boss for 2019.
Ferrari was quickest during the testing phase - a feat which they achieved in 2018 too. Having won 6 races last year, the Team didn't accomplish a single 1-2 finish compared to Mercedes' four and it proved to be one of the key reasons why they couldn't win the title last season.
Will Hamilton's composure and controlled aggression prove to be their Achilles' heal yet again or will Ferrari finally be able to make amends for their costly errors of 2018 and bring the Double to Maranello?
Prospects : Expected to top the charts but Hamilton could spoil their party
