The Formula 1 season is getting tantalisingly close with the Formula 1 constructors kicking off the pre-season tests.
It is too early to tell which team holds the advantage ahead of the next 10 months but Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull will be the team to beat after dominating for the last three seasons.
McLaren are moving into a new era with Jenson Button as the undisputed team No 1 after Lewis Hamilton left for Mercedes. Early signs from pre-season suggest that the McLaren MP24 has inherited the late season pace from 2012. However as previous years have shown, Button struggles with cars that are not setup to his exact specifications.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso performed a superhuman feat in 2012 by taking the Championship to the wire. This season he will hope that the F138 can be consistently on the pace.
Meanwhile 2013 will be a transitional period for Mercedes. The German manufacturer has flattered to deceive since returning to the sport. But they will be aiming for 2014 when Formula 1 moves from V8 to V6 engines - and new recruit Lewis Hamilton will be eyeing that date as he looks to win his first title since 2008.
Lotus Renault had an encouraging 2012 season which saw Kimi Raikkonen finish third in the Championship and they will be aiming to earn more race wins this season with the E21.
