F1 starts amid coronavirus fears

After a quiet winter break and just six days of preseason testing, Formula One returns in earnest at next Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

It’s during this season opener that the pecking order begins to take shape, with early indications showing that Mercedes are still the team to beat at the front of the grid.

Red Bull appear to have made big strides and may have even overhauled Ferrari to create the second-fastest car of this year.

For the Italian team, the start of the new season could be a turbulent one, thanks to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Along with AlphaTauri, formerly Toro Rosso and Haas, Ferrari may find themselves on the wrong side of several travel restrictions imposed by some of F1’s host countries.

The fourth race of the season – in China – has already been cancelled due to the virus, while others, such as next week’s one in Bahrain and the one thereafter in Vietnam, are still in doubt.

Vietnam has placed a two-week quarantine period on visitors from Italy, which, in effect, would prevent the Ferrari and AlphaTauri teams, as well as tyre supplier Pirelli, from entering the race.

F1 managing director Ross Brawn said that, if a country barred a team, the race could not go ahead.

“Obviously, if a team makes its own choice not to go to a race, that’s their decision. But where a team is prevented from going to a race because of a decision made by the host country, it’s difficult to have a fair competition,” Brawn said.

This season marks the beginning of Max Verstappen’s and Charles Leclerc’s new contracts with Red Bull and Ferrari, respectively, as the pair aim to dethrone F1’s “old guard” of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Asked by journalists about his chances of winning the title, Verstappen played his cards close to his chest.

“You always just have to be realistic. We just didn’t have the chance yet to fight for the title, so you cannot force it or whatever.

“We are just pushing as a team to try to make it happen. Of course, I would like to win the title every single year, but, as a team, we have to step it up a bit. I’m pretty confident that we can do a really good job this year.”

Hamilton has the chance to equal German legend Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles this year and will begin his championship assault around the Albert Park Circuit.

The 5.303km-long track has played host to the opening round of the championship since 1996 and winds its way around Albert Park Lake.

Last year’s race saw a return to form for Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Much has been made of the battle to be crowned the “best of the rest” outside of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. Racing Point appear to be leading that tussle, with their challenger for this year bearing remarkable similarities to last year’s Mercedes – and the car is looking quick and reliable. It may even challenge the Ferrari in certain races.

Further down the grid, F1 sees the return of one of it’s brightest young talents. Last seen on the track with Racing Point, Esteban Ocon will line up for his first race with Renault after he fell by the wayside last year.

F1 will see only one rookie on the grid this season as Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi joins Williams, hoping to help transform their poor fortunes and prevent a repeat of their torrid season last year.

Mercedes may look unbeatable at the head of the field, but they do have one weakness – their engine. Multiple failures during preseason testing saw both Hamilton and Bottas break down, leaving the former worried for the team’s fortunes in the opening race.

“Is it a concern? For sure,” said Hamilton. “Normally, we’ve got much more confidence in the reliability, so it’s not been perfect for us.

“It’s definitely not an easy or relaxed scenario. But I have every confidence in the Mercedes factory that they’ll analyse and do the best they can to make sure that we’ll start off on the right foot.”

The race starts at 7.10am.

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