For jaded Formula One fans weary of Sebastian Vettel’s dominance, an overdue shake-up is coming.
A switch to six-cylinder turbo engines has forced a radical redesign of the cars, with the aim of making the series more relevant to the car industry and tempting major automakers back to F1.
While such changes tend to ultimately benefit the big teams, who have more resources to put into design and trouble-shooting, the change could see some of the major players struggle early.
How the teams adjust to the technical challenges will be the major theme of the season, with juicy subplots such as how Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen manage what could be a combustible relationship as teammates at Ferrari.
Off the track, there are also major issues, most notably the future of the series’ commercial boss with 83-year-old Bernie Ecclestone facing bribery charges in Germany. Many eyes are also on Michael Schumacher, who remains in a coma in a French hospital months after he suffered head injuries in a skiing accident.
Preseason testing has raised some eyebrows, with Vettel – who will be aiming for his fifth straight drivers’ championship – and his Red Bull team struggling with technical problems, while Felipe Massa at his new team Williams is the unlikely name at the top of the timesheets.
It will be tough to bet against Red Bull and designer Adrian Newey quickly coming up with solutions to the preseason glitches, but Vettel knew the restricted running in preseason put his team at a disadvantage for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
“We haven’t done enough laps, the speed is not there compared to some other teams,” said Vettel, who last season matched Schumacher’s record of 13 victories in a year and equalled the nine consecutive wins of Alberto Ascari.
“There’s no reason to paint everything black. Everyone is motivated to get out of it, get going and find out where we are.”
If Red Bull is off the pace in Australia and the early races, it will have plenty of opportunities to catch up in the 19-race season. The Russian GP in October is new to the schedule, while the Austrian GP returns in June. The Korean GP has been dropped, while the Indian GP is off this year and expected early in 2015.
Red Bull’s preseason struggles have been caused by Renault’s teething problems with the new V6 engine and associated parts of the power train. That has also impacted the other Renault-supplied teams: Lotus, Toro Rosso and Caterham.
The trouble for Renault is the engines have been set for the season ahead, with no major changes allowed, so there is a fear the problems will be difficult if not impossible to resolve.
The Mercedes-powered teams have flourished in preseason, with the eponymous factory team a clear favourite for the early races to build on the second-place finish in 2013, while Williams and Force India have looked strong, less so McLaren. The Mercedes teams did roughly twice as many laps in preseason testing than the Renault or Ferrari-powered cars.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who will sport the No. 44 on his car as F1 switches to personally chosen numbers instead of the previous season’s finishing order, was playing down his favorite status for Melbourne.
“We have a strong package but I don’t feel we are guaranteed to be the guys ahead,” Hamilton said.
Mercedes does have the benefit of continuity because it is one of only two teams to retain the same driver pairing from 2013, along with Marussia.
There has been plenty of shuffling of drivers but not many new faces. The debutants in Melbourne will be Kevin Magnussen at McLaren, Marcus Ericsson at Caterham and 19-year-old Russian Daniil Kyvat at Toro Rosso, while Kamui Kobayashi returns at Caterham after a year away.
Vettel’s new teammate is Daniel Ricciardo, who replaces fellow Australian Mark Webber and will be a distinct No.2 to the German.
