Welcome to NNF1 2010

So to this coming season, yet again we find ourselves with the tantilising prospect of another humdinger of year. Even more so this year.

The reason for this anticipation? Pure and simple we have the most thrilling driver line ups of recent times, inter team and from team to team. The top teams have some sensational talent on their hands.

Massa having already compared himself against Mike & Kimi now has the currently number one rated driver in the world in the other Ferrari - none other than Fernando Alonso. How that comparison goes will be interesting in context of the past as well as the here and now.

Current world champion Jenson Button stunned everyone when he moved over to Lewis Hamilton's den at McLaren. In most peoples mind, Jenson is going to get hammered ...However, Jenson is brilliant driver, super smooth in the Prost mould, he's also a world champ in kart's so I have a funny feeling Lewis may be in for a surprise.

In the Red Bull camp it's the same two chaps as last year, Vettel being continuously heralded as the next big thing but Webber claimed 2 victories last year and kept The Kid honest, nearly beating him in the points except for some terrible mid season luck. Mark is tenacious and fast so Vettel will have to keep a season long vigil to keep the Aussie behind.

In the silver corner 7 times world champion Michael Schumacher makes his return at 41 years of age, partnering Nico Rosberg - Nico is the only driver in this elite of the elite top 8 drivers in the world not to have won a Grand Prix. Michael has nothing to prove so should be relaxed and fast once he adjusts to being an F1 driver again. Nico should do a Massa and watch and learn, having a 7 time world champion to learn from doesn't come around too often. The team (Ross Brawn et al) at Brawn - 'er did I say Brawn, well Mercedes is second to none on the grid.

Apart from this bunch there are another 9 teams scheduled to line up on the grid but they will more than likely be playing a bit part in the traveling circus.

The most notable of these is the Renault driven by Robert 'Bob" Kubica and new boy Petrov from Russia. I don't think Renault are going to up amongst the top four too often but they have a lot of experience to draw from. Renault only own 30% of the team so I expect they will be slowing things down to culminate in a withdrawal at the end of the year. I could be wrong - I hope so.

Force India had a good year in 2009 but they will be hard pressed to replicate that form. Sutil seems quite quick and I think he may find himself in a better team in 2011. Liuzzi is a brilliant karter but we haven't seen any real form in F1 yet. We need a fast Italian in the sport so I hope he gets it together in 2010.

STR have built their own chassis this year so they wont be able to rely on much support from the number 1 team. However they be able to react more quickly rather than having to wait for parts after Red Bull have been serviced first. They should be able to hold their own against the new teams...

Sauber is back with Ferrari engines despite at this moment in time still being entered as BMW Sauber...They have new boy Kobayashi who everyone was expecting to replace one of the Toyota drivers for this year but Toyota pulled the plug. He had two good races and was fast on his debut. Possibly the best Japanese driver to come along the F1 route so far? They also have the millions of miles of experience of Pedro de le Rosa to draw from in the other seat.

Of the four new teams, USF1/Lotus/Virgin/Campos you would have to go with Lotus as being the best performer, the chaps behind the scenes are experienced and they have two good drivers. Apparently (?) Kovalainen was stifled next to Hamilton last year, there were flashes of speed though so maybe this year he can rebuild his reputation. Trulli in the other seat is on any given day one of the fastest drivers in the world over one lap. He should have scored Toyota's first victory last year but it didn't come together for him.

Virgin (Manor) are serious but are approaching F1 with a strict eye on the budget, they've signed Glock who had his moments over the past couple of years but wasn't convincing enough against Jarno at Toyota. The other chap is newcomer Lucas di Grassi, he has a good cv behind him but it will be a learning year for him and the team.

Campos have had to contend with rumours they don't have the cash to even race this year - they've crash tested (successfully) their car so it appears something is happening. They have Ayrton's nephew in one car at the moment but he's an untried nephew right now. Dallara - an Italian chassis manufacturer is building their chassis. As of writing this Campos has been bought out by another concern and have yet sign a 2nd driver or show their car...

So, the big white hope...USF1. Have a look at their web site, the premises and race shop look impressive. They've kept their heads down and seem to have managed to build up a good base from which to build the team from. Seemingly. They've also recently signed a newcomer called Jose Maria Lopez who did well in Argentina. Well he's from the America's and almost fits with USF1's brief of "All American". Mostly USF1 have been plagued by consistent rumours that they wont even make the grid and more recently despite assurances that they will be there, it has been suggested they have asked permission to skip the first four long haul races. It will be a pleasure to see them line up in Bahrain and do well. And of course know one has even sighted the car yet with just 15 days to go to practice 1 in Bahrain....

A brief glance at the rule changes. The ban on refueling has had the biggest affect so far - making the engineers rethink the chassis design to accommodate the new much larger fuel tank. This will have a major effect of chassis balance, especially in the early stages of a race when the tanks are full. Pits stops for tyres are going to happen as the drivers still have to use the prime and option tyres during the race but they (the pits stops) will incredibly fast, probably around 3-4 seconds stationary.

Bridgestone as you may know are pulling out of the sport at the end of the year (no - there is no new tyres supplier yet but expect Khumo or some other brand you would never put on your car to front up to raise their profiles... - Goodyear and Dunlop have already said NO). Anyway back to Bridgestone, they will want to bow out of F1 without any bad publicity so the compounds are going to be hard, not sure if they are aiming for race distances but it is going to be interesting seeing how teams manage their tyres. The fronts are also going to be narrower than last season. This is to address an imbalance in the mechanical grip at either end...

A new toy introduced last year was the adjustable front wing - not everyone had it but this year on the long runs it's going to be an important piece of kit to keep the balance once the tyres start wearing out.

Two days into Barcelon and Red Bull and Ferrari have started to show their speed, Alonso looking very impressive in the Ferrari and is the early season favorite. But then again this time last Hamilton was the favorite and look what happened there!

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