World champion Sebastian Vettel is understandably favorite to open the Formula One season with a victory at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, but there are strong indications he will face a much tougher challenge than he did last year.
The German’s pole-to-flag victory by a formidable 22.2 seconds at Albert Park last year started a second season of dominance for Vettel and his Red Bull team, that culminated in the retention of the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
The return to the grid of Kimi Raikkonen after a two-year sabbatical, however, has resulted in the tantalizing prospect of five former world champions, not to mention a string of young pretenders, fighting to deny Vettel a title hat-trick.
Photo: AFP
“This season looks like a stellar year for Formula One, with six world champions. It’s unprecedented,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.
Despite the millions of US dollars invested in building the cars and the thousands of kilometers run in testing, no one really knows how the contenders will match up until the covers come off the tires for Saturday’s qualifying session.
However, indications are that McLaren, who boast two of the former world champions in Britons Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, will be more competitive from the off than they were after a difficult winter last year.
They have pedigree on the Melbourne street circuit too. Button, runner-up in the title race last year, won back-to-back in Melbourne in 2009 and 2010, with Hamilton winning in 2008.
Raikkonen won in Melbourne in 2007 on his way to winning the title for Ferrari and looks to have eased seamlessly back into Formula One with Lotus, who ran as Renault up until last season.
Ferrari’s former world champion Fernando Alonso, the 2006 winner in Australia, never needs any motivation, but he and his teammate Felipe Massa look like facing an uphill battle to get on the podium in their radically overhauled car for this year.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher won the last of his four Australian Grands Prix in 2004 and his Mercedes team are another who have great hopes after positive winter tests.
One contender who has never won a world title, nor a Grand Prix at Albert Park, is Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber and the Australian will be at least hoping to improve on his best finish of fifth in his home race.
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