Without a doubt, the team to beat in Bahrain will be Ferrari. Just like Brawn GP last season, Ferrari stated work on their new car very early, when their competitors were still working on improving performance on their 2009 cars. Both drivers, Massa and Alonso, seem comfortable enough, but of course most fans of Ferrari will have their eyes on Fernando. As far as testing and optimizing, Ferrari are further than anyone else on the grid. They have shown they have a good car and now its up to the others to beat them.

One of the biggest news in Formula 1 this season, is the return of Michael Schumacher and no doubt he will attract more attention in Bahrain than any other driver. He may have not been the fastest in testing, but he looks as focused and hungry for success as ever. The question is “Has he got the car to be Number 1 again?”. So far, Mercedes have done a great job, but they aren’t quote ready yet. Having to test new wings and diffuser during the first racing weekend of the season, is not very reassuring. Nico Rosberg has no choice, but to be in Schumacher’s shadow as far as the media and fans are concerned, but that will not stop him from trying to be the faster driver in Mercedes.

McLaren improved probably more than any other team, during the last days of testing. The pressure on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, the last two Formula 1 champions, will be absolutely immense. The team seemed to spend a lot of time finding the right tyres settings, which is very important since the strategies for the new season will have fewer pit stops. Overall, McLaren are probably as closer to Ferrari, in their preparation, and can only improve.

Red Bull were the surprise package last year. More teams fighting for points and getting on the podium, is a great news for all Formula 1 fans. Many are even tipping Red Bull to win it this year, considering they have a good car with a fuel efficient engine, which will be another key factor this season.

The rest of the field doesn’t look too promising. The US team will probably never show and the new boys, Virgin and Lotus are really struggling with their cars end are unlikely to make an impact.

Adrian Sutil seems happy with his Force India car, but lack of testing didn’t allow him to show his true potential.

Newcomer Nico Hulkenberg will be in good company at Williams. Veteran F1 driver Rubens Barrichello will surely give him useful advice and he can also count on promising Cosworth engine.

Sauber, Renault and Toro Rosso complete the field, but their performance in pre-season testing hasn’t indicated that any of them is capable of miracles in 2010.

The usual suspects will be battling for the championship this season and what an exciting season it is going to be!

Anyone else counting the hours until March 14th?

Force India F1 Car 2010

Adrian Sutil expects Force India to deliver a strong performance in 2010 as the team unveiled the car he will drive in a low-key launch on Tuesday.

“This is the first time we have been completely on schedule,” said Sutil.

“So this is the first season when I can show from the beginning to end what is possible on the car and what I can do. It’s important to be consistent.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sutil will have give the car a test in Jerez on Wednesday, 10 February 2010.

Mark Smith, design director, described the car as a “naturla progressions from 2009″.

As in last season, Mercedes will provide the engines and gear box is coming from McLaren.

Mercedes MGP W01 Presentation 2010 with exclusive interview with Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher

Exclusive Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton Predictions

Virgin Racing VR-01 top

Virgin Racing VR-01 team

Virgin Racing designer Nick Wirth and drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi unveil the VR-01, the first ever F1 car designed, built and tested entirely on computer.

“Today is a very proud day for everyone involved with Virgin Racing, however on this occasion, where the car is the star, I want to pay tribute to all the amazing people at Wirth Research who deserve so much of the credit for the VR-01” said Wirth

Virgin Racing team principal, John Booth commented: “Today is the culmination of a very emotional journey which really began in June last year when we celebrated the fantastic news that our entry into Formula One had been accepted.

Williams FW32

Williams FW32 back

The Williams team along with their drivers – R Barrichello and N Hulkenberg (former test driver) gave their new car a debut on Thursday, the FW32 is taking to the track at Silverstone.

Williams, who will field reigning GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg alongside Barrichello, are out to improve on their seventh place of last year.

Lewis Hamilton declared himself happy after his first drive in McLaren’s new car despite lagging behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari in Valencia testing.

“It’s a different feeling compared to the first lap of the first test day of 2009,” said the 2008 champion.

“It’s a positive feeling. I’ve kept a close eye on the development of this car. I’ve seen it evolve and had input into it which is very exciting.

“I got out smiling. The problems I had [last year] I don’t have in this car.”

Flaws in Hamilton’s 2009 McLaren left him well off the pace last season. Although they were eventually resolved, allowing him to win two races, he was unable to defend his title.

Alanso will be on the track tomorrow so more excitement to come.

With the field increasing in size from 20 to 26 cars for 2010, teams have agreed that World Championship points should now be offered down to tenth place for the first time in the sport’s history, replacing the previous top eight system which was introduced for the start of 2003.

The new system is meant to encourage racing and winning with the top 10 finishers rewarded in a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 sequence.

Tyre rules will also be modified so drivers will have to start the race on the same set of tyres with which their grid time was set in qualifying.

Another interesting news is that double diffusers will be banned from 2011. Diffusers improve downforce by channelling the flow of air smoothly under the car, but caused a lot of controversy in 2009 because of the way Brawn, Toyota and Williams used them.

Massa in the new Ferrari

Michael Schumacher got most of the attention from the press during the first test of the season in Valencia, Spain, but Massa with his new Ferrari F10 proved to be the fastest man on the track.

When asked how he felt about the new car, Massa said:

“It has more grip than the 2009 car. When you have more grip you also have much more fun driving.”

Massa led the seven-car field with a best lap time of one minute 12.574 seconds from 102 laps at Valencia’s Cheste Circuit. That left him just over two-tenths of a second faster than Pedro De la Rosa of Sauber.

Massa will also drive tomorrow before giving way to new team-mate Fernando Alonso on Wednesday.

Mercedes MGP W01

Mercedes MGP W01 front

Mercedes say they will give equal treatment to drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg in 2010.

Schumacher said:  “The main reason (I’m back) is that I feel thrilled about it – I feel an excitement to drive at the highest level of motorsport. Now I feel again, why not something at the high level?”

Rosberg said: “Of course there is this little bit of doubt within me but I’m confident and comfortable we’ll have the same car, chances, everything.”