But after a summer of activity, including team changes, new rules, new teams and the return of an old face we’re again ready for what’s gearing up to be one of the most exhilarating seasons in recent memory.
The biggest of those stories revolves around the return of Michael Schumacher, who after a four year absence from the sport has given in to the calls for his return as he links up with the Mercedes team, and Ross Brawn in particular.
That duo masterminded Ferrari’s dominance of the sport at the beginning of the current century, and both will be keen to continue their great relationship in this toughest of seasons.
One of the unique aspects of this F1 season is the amount of former World Champions around, and the last two champions, both of who are British are teaming up for McLaren in a mouthwatering duel.
Lewis Hamilton had a subdued year in an off the pace McLaren car, while his new teammate Button stormed to his first world title after winning six of the season’s opening seven races.
The way Hamilton took the sport by storm in his first two seasons, missing out on the title in Brazil in 2008, and then on the exact same stage the following year piping homeboy Filipe Massa to the title in a race in which he finished fifth, the same position that confirmed Button as champion last season.
Both are sure to be vying for the title, Hamilton probably has the upper hand given his long history with McLaren, but Button won’t want to give up his title with a whimper, watching two Brits fight for the title for a British team will be thrilling.
As ever we have new teams, three at that, with Lotus F1, Hispania Racing and Virgin Racing coming into freshen up the sport, but there are fears about the ability for any of the teams to be competitive on the track, or to even survive until the end of the season, have already surfaced.
Yes, the FIA have permitted these teams to start the season, and given the financial restraints the governing body now impose on the sport, a thorough inspection into each teams finances should have been carried out so that a mid-season collapse doesn’t ensue.
As ever the FIA have chopped and changed with the rules, two of which stick out like a sore thumb.
Firstly there will be no re-fueling during the race, meaning pit stops will be shorter, but at the same time it means there is no margin for error during the stops like there may have been before.
Given that, qualifying will now be a true reflection on how fast each car is during a weekend, making it far more accurate, but is part of the excitement in waiting till race day to discover the fastest man on the grid and of the weekend?
The second, and the most radical, is the change of the points system, with the top 10 finishers now eligible for a point, with the podium finishers likely to pick up 25, 18 and 15 points respectively.
The clear downside is the history of the sport in terms of point scoring is now irrelevant, and now with a higher and widespread scoring system there’s nowhere to hide for any team.
Will the system mean more drivers can challenge for the title? That’s left to be seen, but with so many scoring spots will drivers be less willing to go for a podium finish when they know a top 10 finish will see them score anyway?
It’s one of the number of questions to be answered for the new season, and another is how some of the new drivers will fit in at their new teams, and the focus in that respect is liable to be on the fourth world champion competing in this season, Fernando Alonso.
Ferrari have rid themselves of their world champion Kimi Raikkonen, and Alonso will join Massa in an exciting line up for the Italian based team and the Spaniard is many people’s favorite for this years title.
Elsewhere Niko Roseberg is to be mentored at Mercedes by Schumacher after his move from Williams and replacing him will be Rubens Barrichello, while Heikki Kovalainen joins Jarno Trulli at new team Lotus Racing.
There are so many sub-plots to this year’s championship it’s impossible to know where to look next, and the season is still yet to kick off.
Personally, the plot I see coming to the fore in the championship race is that between Hamilton and Alonso, a pair who have their history while at McLaren, but in opposite teams, with fine cars at their disposal, a real title battle can unfold between the two.
Last season showed Formula 1 still possess some unpredictability, but with last year’s rules now very familiar to most teams, shocks might be few and far between, but excitement? Now that’s a given.
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