Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes

#1 Jensen Button
#2 Lewis Hamilton

An all British line up of World Champions, this promises to be one of the most intriguing battles of the year. As a team Mclaren will be confident to have two established top rank drivers after the difficulties with Heikki Kovalainen last year.

This is one of the strongest line ups on in the field and it is the first time to world champions have partnered in any team since Senna and Prost, back at Mclaren, in 1989.

This time around it promises to be a much less tense affair, both drivers have frequently voiced their respect for the other, but in a few months that could all change.

It is a mouth watering line up, Hamilton, by most accounts, has the measure of Button in terms of absolute raw pace and will surely be mighty in qualifying, very much like Senna once was, but Lewis is naturally tough on his tyres and in this new era of no fuel stops, that could hurt him.

What could also hurt Hamilton, is Button’s impeccable, beautiful smoothness and consistency over a race distance. The reigning World Champion is famed for his ability to find his limit and stick to it, lap after lap, Prost-esque.

In a way, it very much is Senna v Prost, just in different guises, and without the tension and hatred, but on track it promises to be absolutely fascinating.

What Mclaren will be fearing of course, given that the car is competitive, is that both their drivers take points off each other and allow a rival to slip in the back door, a la Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

But what a line up, Hamilton is the slight favourite to win this battle of Champions, but only a fool would write of Button.

Mercedes GP Petronas

#3 Michael Schumacher
#4 Nico Rosberg

An all German line up in a German team. Mercedes have been biding their time about returning to Formula One as a constructor, and now, after a 55 year hiatus, they are back, and with a certain driver named Schumacher signed up.

Schumacher has shown in testing he is on the pace, and he can cope with long runs, the question is, can he still replicate his skills and prowess now he is 41, over a 19 race season?

Arguably the competition is much stronger now, then when he was at his absolute zenith, but no doubt Schumacher will relish the prospect and only up his game.

Schumacher is the big question mark of this season, how good will he be? Can he reach the levels he used to? Has he lost his edge? Have his rivals caught up?

So many questions, but the man knows how to win races, to win championships and to maximise every single ounce of performance from his car at every opportunity.

Schumacher is legendary for his ability to feel and judge the grip levels of his car, during any form of weather, be it a down poor, be it a drizzle, not only this, but his ability to pull out an exact lap time, when required, for a set number of laps is also famed, and teamed up again with mastermind Ross Brawn, expect fireworks from Mercedes.

Rosberg signed up to Mercedes when it was still, officially Brawn GP, and his team-mate was likely to be Jensen Button, but now it is Schumacher, the pressure is off Nico, it is a learning year, a year in which he surely will push, and often beat Schumacher.
Rosberg is quick, and he is strong over a race distance, he has a chance now in a top team to really deliver upon everything he has learned at Williams, the closer he gets too, and the more he can beat Schumacher, the higher his stock will rise. Can he win races this year? Certainly. Can he string together a championship challenge with Schumacher in the other car? …..

This German duo is one of the strongest in the field, both drivers are renowned for being consistently quick and very rarely having an off day. Both drivers are great over a long race distance and Rosberg in particular is one of the finest overtakers in the business.

But Schumacher of course, is Schumacher.

A trump card in Schumacher no doubt, he will be up there, but will he be as ruthless as he once was? Rosberg is good, not yet great, but that could all change.

Red Bull Racing

#5 Sebastian Vettel
#6 Mark Webber

Red Bull had a fantastic 2009 season, and if it wasn’t for a little bit of inexperience and the double diffuser issue, could well have won both world titles.

But now they have experience, and no diffuser issues, both drivers are multiple grand prix winners. Webber has fully recovered from his broken leg and Vettel is now returning from his own personal championship challenge.

Vettel dominated Webber in qualifying last season, a surprise what with Webber being known for destroying his team-mates in that area. But Webber more than matched Vettel over a race distance.

Webber did brilliantly to bounce back from his cycling accident which broke his leg, and his performance at the Nurburgring was arguably the most dominant of the season, even more so than Vettel’s win at Silverstone.

Red Bull made some mistakes last season, so did Vettel, and so did Webber, but who would have expected anything else? Their first season as title contenders, even Ferrari and Mclaren make errors.

2010 will be the year we will really see what these boys are made of, Webber, with two wins to his name now, the monkey is off his back and the pins are out of his leg, this could well be Webber’s finest year. Super strong over a race distance, brilliantly quick in qualifying, and one of the ballsiest, best overtakers in the business.

Vettel is already a five time grand prix winner and a sure-fire superstar of the future. Blindingly quick in qualifying, he is sure to be strong again in that department. The guy just keeps improving, getting quicker and quicker, and with each race, comes more, crucial experience.

2010 could well see both of these guys pick up yet more race wins, and quite possibly, another tilt at the title.

A seriously good line up, got all their bases covered here and should be epic once again this season.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

#7 Felipe Massa
#8 Fernando Alonso

Could 2010 be the year the prancing horse makes its competitive return?

2009 was a year to forget for Ferrari, a troublesome, difficult car that managed one win at Spa thanks to its KERS system. Aside from that, the car was never the pacesetter, more of a regular point’s scorer.

Massa’s injury did nothing to help Ferrari’s cause, Raikkonen upped his game following Felipe’s crash, but ultimately his head, and probably his heart, weren’t in the game.

The team stopped development on the 2009 car with several races left, in order to focus on this year’s F10 machine to be driven by the returning Massa, and, two time world Champion Fernando Alonso.

This could be the team to beat, this Latino line up has a fantastic balance, Massa is as quick as anybody, and at certain circuits, on a different level, but Alonso is unbeatable in almost every department, beautifully consistent over a race distance, and super fast when called upon, the Spaniard is, by many people’s accounts, the best all rounder in the sport.

Alonso will be hoping to build a Schumacher-esque relationship with the Italian team, something Raikkonen was never interested in, to build the team around himself, become a race winner once more.

But if Massa can match and beat Alonso early on, at tracks like Bahrain, Spain and Turkey, then it’s quite possible he will have ruffled a few of Alonso’s feathers, and when that happens, the Spaniard is prone to errors as we saw spectacularly during 2007 when the double champ was team-mate to then rookie Lewis Hamilton at Mclaren.

The car has been fast and reliable in testing, Massa is fully up to speed and Alonso is relishing a year back in the big time.

The line up of 2010 perhaps?

AT&T Williams

#9 Rubens Barrichello
#10 Nico Hulkenberg

An interesting line up this one, a perfect example of a balance of experience and youth.

In one car is Rubens Barrichello, signed after his re-birth at Brawn that saw him win twice, and, briefly, look like a title challenger.

The Brazilian remains, however, quick, and one of the best men in the grid for finding a good set-up on the car, wherever the circuit. He still has the pace, and tonnes of experience with which to use it.

In the other car is new boy Nico Hulkenberg, a highly talented driver who won the GP2 series last year in his debut season, claiming 100 points on the way. He has been test driver for the team for several seasons and is now making the step up to race driver.

By all accounts, the German is very highly rated, and with Barrichello alongside him, has the perfect opportunity to mould and enhance his capabilities in a Formula One car.

Williams will be happy with this line up, Barrichello will be the perfect benchmark by which to judge Hulkenberg, and with Barrichello’s top notch set-up abilities, should Hulkenberg find himself struggling at a circuit, he should be able to get up to speed without too much difficulty.

This line- up should be consistently strong throughout the season. The team failed to get the most out of its excellent car last season, but this time around should be much more productive. Should the car be competitive, both drivers should be pushing for regular points and Hulkenberg could well produce some fireworks.
Ruben’s will bring home the bacon, Hulkenberg will produce the entertainment.

Renault

11# Robert Kubica
12# Vitaly Petrov

Kubica and Renault could be the dark horse of 2010. Both sides had a torrid 2009 and couldn’t wait to see the end of it, but now Kubica is able to mould the Renault team around him, and hopefully deliver some results.

There is no doubting Kubica’s abilities, the guy is very, very quick, and there is no doubting either, Renault’s ability to produce a race winning car.

But aside from Alonso, whoever was in the other Renault struggled, which says an awful lot about Alonso’s contribution to the team.
Kubica will be hoping he can work with the team as well as Alonso did and set about bringing Renault back to the front.
The polish driver is consistent from race to race, incredibly strong over a race distance and should give Renault a perfect benchmark as to where the car is it, which is going to be needed as the second race seat is taken by Vitaly Petrov, an F1 new boy.

The Russian has already confessed that he is bringing a large sum of money to the Renault team, but that does not detract the fact that he was the GP2 runner-up last season, taking three wins and five other podium positions.

Romain Grosjean showed last year how difficult it can be to cope with Formula One, but Petrov has plenty of testing time before Bahrain, and there will be no excuses should he fail to produce the goods.

Kubica is a great driver to learn from, and Petrov should be learning from him race by race, as well as pushing him hard over a race distance.

Not the strongest of line- ups, but Kubica is a star.

Force India

14# Adrian Sutil
15# Vitantonio Liuzzi

A tidy line up this, both drivers are quick, and both drivers are still learning. Last year was a breakthrough year for both the team and Sutil, getting their first points on the board.
Sutil does have an awful penchant for getting involved in spectacular smashes, but expect that to be eradicated this season.
Sutil now finally has some results to back up his potential, and will be going into this season, calmer, and a lot more confident. The German is quick, some outstanding qualifying performances at Suzuka and Brazil last year added to his epic talent for wet weather driving.

Liuzzi did well filling in at the end of last year, on for a points finish at Monza before retirement, he did a good job and was not too far off Sutil’s pace.

With some testing behind him this time around, expect Liuzzi to push Sutil hard, and vice versa. Liuzzi too has a reputation for errors, but he is a wiser, more mature driver now and both drivers should perform well this season.

The car has looked good in testing and both drivers will want to make the most of a competitive car from the off in Bahrain.
A good, if somewhat lightweight line up here, but both men should get a handsome fill of points throughout the year, could even upset the front runners.

Scuderia Torro Rosso

16# Sebastien Buemi
17# Jaime Alguesuari

A very young line up, but Buemi showed last year, particularly at the beginning and end of the season, that he has potential, and Alguesuari did enough to be kept on for a full season.

Buemi was impressive last year, a lot more impressive than most people imagined he would be. Four points scoring finishes have proven the Swiss driver has talent, his driver in Shanghai was particularly excellent. Having qualified the Torro Rosso in the top 10, he then drove well in soaking conditions to pick up a point in 8th, despite losing his front wing during the race.

Buemi will be looking to build on last season, and become a consistent performer, and, if the car is quick enough, a points scorer once again. It will be tough for the young swiss driver, as he will be expected to lead the team as best he can. It will be a steep learning curve but the pressure is off and Buemi could well spring a few more surprises this season.

It is a learning season also, for Alguesuari, after a half season last year, where he was just about quick enough, and kept out of trouble, he has been given a seat for a whole season.

With no testing done, the Spaniard’s performance last year wasn’t half bad, and his pace in testing has been a match for Buemi. Expectations for this youngster are low, but like Buemi, a few surprises could be in store.

Not a strong line-up on initial viewing, but expect some strong performances from both men.

Lotus F1 Racing

#18 Jarno Trulli
#19 Heikki Kovalainen

A cracking line up here for a new team, lets just hope the car allows them to showcase their ability.

Trulli is an enigma, so sensitive to changes in the car, or the track, he can be fantastic one lap and nowhere the next.
He remains possibly the finest qualifier in the business, and one of the finest ever in grand prix history, but this season the team needs and wants consistency, and Trulli has never brought that. He will have to knuckle down and work at being consistent in order for the team to progress as quickly as possible. He is quick and is still capable of epic performances, is it just a question of how often he produces them.

Heikki Kovalainen is fast. That’s a fact. A fact that came under a lot of scrutiny last season as he struggled to match Lewis Hamilton’s pace at Mclaren.

At Renault in his debut season he showed himself to be a consistent, quick, points scorer, in his debut year at Mclaren in 2008 he gave Hamilton plenty of things to think about, but in 2009 he fell apart.

Too often at race starts he would slide back down the field, at Monza in particular he was perfectly placed on the grid to win the race, but by lap one he was too far down the order to do anything.

Perhaps he lacks aggression, but he is certainly a fine driver, and will bring the consistency to the team that Trulli won’t.
It is a good balance that Lotus have, outright pace with Trulli, and consistency with Kovalainen.

If the car is up to it, could be regular point’s scorers.

Campos Meta

#20 TBA
#21 Bruno Senna

Difficult to judge this one, less than a month to go before the first race and problems persist around Campos’ ability to make it to Bahrain.

If they do, then they will need a second driver of course, and there are still several drivers out there looking for a seat, Anthony Davidson, Christian Klien for example.

The driver they do have, however, is bound to attract attention. Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton, will be making his debut with Campos after narrowly missing out on a Brawn seat last year to Rubens Barrichello.

Senna did well in two seasons of GP2 and he performed well when testing for Honda. Questions have been raised about his late introduction to motorsport but this to have unaffected the Brazilian.

Should Campos make the grid, Senna will be looking go get racing miles under his belt, and to challenge the midfield in a car that will be lacking development and testing. This year Senna will be looking to make a name for himself in view of a move up the grid in 2011.

US F1 Team

#22 Jose Maria Lopez
#23 TBA

Will US F1 make the grid? They say they will. If they do, then they will be doing so with Jose Maria Lopez, an Argentinean driver who brings with him the backing of his nation’s government.

Two seasons in GP2 yielded one win and several podiums, which showed Lopez does have pace, if not consistency, he was Renault’s test driver in 2006, and will go into this season, much like Bruno Senna, hoping that this is a learning season and one which can elevate him up the grid for 2011.

The mystery surrounding US F1 will not be helping Lopez’s preparation for his debut grand prix, but nevertheless, when the chance comes, he must take it with both hands.

Mystery also surrounds the other driver slot at USF1 with a host of both US and European drivers rumoured to be interested in the driver. It would make sense for the squad to hire an experienced driver to aid development and organisation, but watch this space.

Virgin Racing

#24 Timo Glock
#25 Lucas Di Grassi

Looking good so far for Virgin Racing. By the time they arrive in Bahrain the team will have had three weeks worth of testing and hopefully substantial mileage, crucial for such a young team.
Timo Glock we all know about, an excellent racer, if slightly ropey in qualifying. He will be crucial to Virgin’s development and success over 2010, and will provide the bar for which Di Grassi will aim.

Di Grassi has already shown in testing he has the pace, and after three seasons in GP2 which rewarded him with 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd again, he knows how to be consistent over a season.

The team appear well prepared to be the best of the new boys, even with their car being entirely designed using Computer Fluid Dynamics, and no use of a wind tunnel, this unique design process has got many people wondering how competitive this team will be, and from recent testing times, the answer would appear to be quite.

Glock is the main man here though for Virgin, they will be relying on him to set up the car and to lead Di Grassi forward. Glock is an excellent racer and a candidate surely for the lower reaches of the points.

A solid line up here, Glock is a seasoned F1 Pro with a nous for long distance stints, while Di Grassi has shown in GP2 he is no slouch.

BMW Sauber F1 Team

#TBA Pedro De La Rosa
#TBA Kamui Kobayashi

Potentially the surprise package of 2010. Despite selling the team, BMW kept up development on both its 2009 and 2010 car, and Peter Sauber has a knack of producing a good car.

The team have signed a good balance of drivers, Spaniard Pedro De La Rosa has proven himself to be an excellent test driver, and while deputising from Juan Pablo Montoya in 2006 at Mclaren, showed himself to be a more than capable racer, if a bit lacking in outright pace.

De La Rosa will be expected to bring stability to the team and help set up the car from which Kamui Kobayashi can kick on from his dynamic performances at the end of last season in Toyota.

If a bit rough around the edges, his pace was excellent, and at Abu Dhabi, he not only beat Jensen Button in a dual, getting his own back after Button edged past him in a thrilling battle in Brazil, but the Japanese man came home ahead of his team-mate Trulli who had started the race six places ahead on the grid!

The car has appeared quick in testing, in both driver’s hands, and both De La Rosa and Kobayashi have a reputation for being feisty on the track.

A very good line up here, certainly should be aiming at points each race, expect a few wild moments from Kobayashi.

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