This weekend’s Grand Prix of Australia 2019 launches the new F1 season which promises to be extra exciting and full of new developments. There are some major technical changes in the cars that should facilitate overtaking providing a better show on the track. There are three debutants on this year’s grid as well as returned Polish driver Robert Kubica.

Ferrari arrives at Albert Park as the favourite after excelling at the Barcelona testing sessions. Mercedes, however, could be hiding a card up their sleeve. Red Bull will debut with a Honda engine. McLaren starts a new era without Fernando Alonso, who is replaced by is his friend Carlos Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo will debut in his homeland with Renault and we are also eager to see how Racing Point and Williams perform at this first test. In sum, a very exciting beginning of season!

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton himself has declared that Mercedes is half a second behind Ferrari, but nobody really believes him. One more year, the five-times, and defending world champion is putting up an act. The Briton and his team always play this game at the start of the season. At Mercedes, they know they are very strong. The question is whether they are ahead of the red missiles or not. 

Hamilton wants to start the year on the right foot. He hasn’t had a victory at Albert Park since 2014 and he is eager to break the trend. His ultimate aim is to rise up to the seven crowns of Michael Schumacher. Valtteri Bottas, for his part, hopes to turn around what was a very mediocre 2018 for him. 

If he wants to keep his job at Mercedes, something unlikely, he must convince them from day one. He knows that all eyes will be on him. Esteban Ocon casts a very long shadow.

Ferrari

The team from Maranello arrives in Australia in excellent spirits after being the fastest of the pre-season.  Ferrari enters a new era marked by the start of Mattia Binotto as technical manager in replacement of the eclectic Maurizio Arrivabene.

This will also be a key year for Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari is giving him a great car so there is no excuse for the German driver now. He has been set to put up the fight of his life and conquer the title. Here in Australia, he is expected to win just as he did in the two previous years. He should be wary of his new teammate though.

Charles Leclerc is not going to make it easy for him, not in Australia, not during the rest of the season. The young Monegasque driver wants to be the new star of the Prancing Horse. The Scuderia cannot afford to lose again. They haven’t won a title since 2007! Far too long for one of the most successful teams in history.

Red Bull

The key to the performance of the RB15 from Milton Keynes will be its brand-new Honda engine. One can only guess if the Japanese motor will be reliable and powerful enough to lift the team to one of the top positions. Judging by the winter tests there are enough reasons to be optimistic. In Formula 1, however, things are often different from what they seem at first.

If the Japanese mechanics are up to the challenge Red Bull will be up there in the fight for podiums and victories. The team’s design guru, Adrian Newey, always manages to produce the best chassis on the grid. Besides the technical quality of the RB15, Max Verstappen will be bringing his talent and his hunger for victory one more year into the battlefield. Next to him will be the newbie Pierre Gasly.

This would be the second year in the F1 for the Frenchman who must now show that he deserves to be in Red Bull. A couple of accidents he suffered in the winter tests have cast a shadow over the French driver who is bound to feel the pressure at the Grand Prix of Australia 2019. 

Renault

Renault is meant to keep on growing, particularly after the signing of rising star Daniel Ricciardo. The main goal of the Enstone’s team, however, is not to win races yet, but to keep getting closer to the head. Nico Hulkenberg will be the friendly Aussie’s teammate.

The RS19 in the hands of those two must surely worry those above a little bit, even more so if rumours about its increased power (20-50 p.h.) turn out to be true. In 2018, they finished fourth in the Constructors’ standings. Red Bull is directly on their firing line.

McLaren     

It is the start of an era without Fernando Alonso for the Woking team. Carlos Sainz is now leading a project which is intended to bring the second Scuderia with most titles of all times, back to the front line. The Spaniard will be pairing with English debutant Lando Norris.

During the pre-season, the MCL34 has proven to be very reliable. It is a good starting point, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves; their machine has a lot of room for improvement. It seems, however, that its initial understeering is not a serious issue. Their aspire is to be at the top of the middle bunch, not an easy task given the competition.

Williams

Williams is the other legendary British team going through a rough patch, but a considerably more dramatic one than McLaren. First of all, they missed two testing days in Spain because of a delay on the building of their car. After that, their suspension was deemed illegal by regulators. It is unclear if this was done in ignorance or on purpose, but worrying either way.  

At least the British team can count on a great line-up, rookie George Russel and Robert Kubica. The Polish driver returns to the F1 after a nine-year absence. In 2010 Kubica had to retire after suffering a serious accident in the Rally di Andora (Italy) that almost cost him his right arm.

After eight long years and countless surgeries and physiotherapysessions, he is back. We wish the best to both drivers of the FW42 at the Grand Prix of Australia 2019, who replace Sergei Sirotkin and millionaire Lance Stroll. 

Toro Rosso

The Faenza team starts the season with a new set of drivers after the departure of Pierre Gasly to Red Bull and the dismissal of Brendon Hartley. The new arrivals are the British-Thai Alex Albon and the Russian Daniil Kvyat. The performance of these new pair is a bit of a mystery but Albon has done more than ok at the testing sessions, while Kvyat seems to have kept his old speed.

In Barcelona, they managed to lead several sessions. The STR14 has inherited a large number of elements from his older brother which is also a good thing. 

Racing Point

 Expectations were very high from the team bought by Lawrence Stroll for his son Lance to race in. The operation of acquiring the old Force India took place after the summer of 2018 and that meant a delay in the funds for the development of the new car. As a result, they were very cautious during their testing in Spain because of their lack of spare parts.

The Silverstone team vowed to unveil their definite model in Australia. Nobody knows how the new venture is going to pan out yet, but at least they are sure to count on the talent of Mexican Sergio ‘Checo‘ Pérez and on Lance’s surname and cash. 

Alfa Romeo Racing

The Italo-Swiss Scuderia has caused a sensation during the pre-season. With the economic injection of Maranello, Alfa Romeo Racing (previously Sauber) could surprise everyone this season. Considered to be a Ferrari satellite team, Alfa Romeo will have at its disposal much of the former’s technology and solutions.

The team will be led by Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn could potentially shine on board the C38 if he finds himself comfortable with it. His partner will be Antonio Giovinazzi, a driver favoured by the Prancing Horse’s team.

Haas

We finish with one of the most eclectic formations of the Championship. Despite having lost Ferrari’s favour, and what that means in terms of resources, Americans are well known for building good cars. Their fourth place in the team standings in 2018 was certainly not thanks to its unreliable team of drivers.

Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean are capable of the best and the worst of performances. If they are in tune with their VF-19 they could achieve a great result. Otherwise…