The Main Rule Changes at a glance

• The sport has now switched from 2.4 litre V8 to 1.6 litre V6 engines.
• Fuel management will be an important facet of the new season with a limit of 100kg per race, 60 kg lower than 2013.
• The 2014 cars look drastically different and sport lower noses which have been introduced as a safety measure to prevent cars from becoming airborne.
• KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) has been replaced by a ERS-K which will give cars double the amount of energy for 27 extra seconds per lap.
• Double points will be awarded for the final race of the season in a bid to keep the season interesting. It's essentially pointless - to use a pun - and gimmicky.
• Drivers will also be given career race numbers rather than sporting numbers based on their position in the previous year's championship.

 

The Form Guide

One thing's for sure, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel have not looked good in testing. With constructors scrambling to adhere the new rule changes and V6 engines, the dominant team over the past four years endured a difficult January and February - something they have in common with the other teams using Renault engines: Lotus, Caterham and Toro Rosso. It seems as if Sebastian Vettel and his new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo will be off the pace at least in the first part of this season, which throws the German's chances of winning a record fifth straight title up in the air.

 

It could be a tough season for Vettel and Red Bull

Ahead of this weekend's opening race of the season in Australia, Mercedes are looking like the team to beat which makes Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg early championship favourites. The team has had a focus on being at the front in 2014 and it was one of the reasons why Hamilton joined the team in the first place. 

Williams, who had a terrible 2013, also looked quick in testing and will be expected to do well with their new pairing of Felipe Massa and Valteri Bottas. 

Kimi Raikkonen's move to Ferrari should be interesting given Fernando Alonso's infamous issues with competitive team-mates. However Raikkonen traditionally keeps himself to himself and avoids team politics so this partnership should not be too volatile as long as the Finn is treated fairly. Performance-wise, Ferrari have claimed that they are aiming for a podium in Melbourne and based on testing times, they are not quite as quick as McLaren or Williams thus far.

McLaren will also be hoping to be in with a shout of a points playing position and Jenson Button recently hinted that the new MP4-29 could be relatively competitive after a poor 2013. There have also been management changes at the team with Ron Dennis returning to the role of McLaren CEO, with previous incumbent Martin Whitmarsh ousted.

Force India have also been tipped as a team to watch this season based on their performance in pre-season testing.

 

My Prediction

It looks like Mercedes is strongest at this point and with Hamilton having experienced a title win before, I'm tipping him to pip Rosberg to the title come November.

However,Ferrari's Alonso and Raikkonen cannot be discounted given their talent and vast experience. 

 

I would also like to wish a speedy recovery to F1 legend Michael Schumacher.

It is also worth noting that this season will be the 20th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's untimely death.