Ready for 2015 Season, Australian GP will be Started in This Weekend

If it was the cars that attracted all the attention this time last year, this time it’s most definitely the drivers, with wholesale change across the grid.

Though he will necessarily miss the opening round in Melbourne after his testing accident, Fernando Alonso’s return to McLaren, and Sebastian Vettel’s move from Red Bull to the Spaniard’s vacated seat at Ferrari, have created dramatic and exciting prospects for both teams after their struggles last year.

Can the quadruple world champion help the heavily revamped Scuderia - and himself - back into the winner’s circle? Or will team mate Kimi Raikkonen recapture past glories in a car whose front end works the way he likes? And will Alonso likewise turn around McLaren’s fortunes as Honda come back into F1 racing for the first time since 2008? Or will the two-time champion be upstaged by Jenson Button? How long will the team’s teething troubles last?

With Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas maintaining the consistency at Williams, will all of them be able to hold a candle to the Mercedes of world champion Lewis Hamilton and the hungry Nico Rosberg, as the German vows to be even stronger than he was last year?

At the same time, 2014 sensation Daniel Ricciardo will be partnered by sophomore rising star Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull. Will the Australian continue the hugely impressive form with which he surprised the world as he thoroughly overshadowed Vettel, or will it be his turn to be upstaged by the highly rated Russian? Meanwhile, down at Toro Rosso two of the most promising rookies in recent years - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Junior - add another fascinating dimension to the driver market. Both are quick and, like Kvyat last year, are set to leave a mark.

At Sauber, Felipe Nasr makes it two Brazilians in F1 racing, while Will Stevens adds a third British driver at the phoenix-like Marussia team.

And three other Britons will have chances to shine as test and reserve drivers: Susie Wolff and Alex Lynn at Williams, and Jolyon Palmer at Lotus.

For the second time in history there will be 20 races in a season, as Mexico makes a welcome return to the calendar for the first time since 1992, using a revised version of the famed Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.