The new season is finally underway, and it seems no-one has a clue about who is going to be quickest.  The only certainty is that the new teams seem to be struggling for pace, with Virgin and Lotus only slightly better prepared than HRT (what an unfortunate name for an F1 team!?)

I must admit it seems ridiculous for any Formula One team to turn up at the first race not having turned a wheel in testing, but HRT are doing just that.  With Virgin and Lotus around 7 seconds off the pace already, it will be interesting to see just how slow HRT will be.

On a more positive note, it will be interesting to see Button go up against Hamilton.  The general feeling seem to think Hamilton will walk it, but I get a feeling that it may be closer than most people think.  Still, the idea of seeing Button v Hamilton v Schumacher v Alonso v Massa…means it could be the most exciting F1 season for years.  

It also looks like another controversy over technical regulations could be on the horizon, with McLaren using some kind of driver-operated slot to improve its aerodynamics…I’m still trying to work out the technicalities of it all, but Renault and Red Bull certainly aren’t happy about it (see Autosport story here).

It remains to be seen if the new regulations spice up the racing – it seems more likely that the cars will spend the first half of the race nursing tyres and waiting for their fuel to burn off, but I will reserve judgement until I have seen otherwise!

It also looks like a new F1 movie is on its way…let’s hope it’s better than Sylvester Stallone’s F1-turned-Indycar effort a few years back!

In the meantime, bring on Sunday…