2014 Australian Grand Prix - Preview

Australia, Oz, Down Under. Whatever you call it, the City of Melbourne has played host as the season opener for every year, bar one, since 1996.

It's become a characterful track over the last 18 circles of the Moon, with superb displays of domination from the likes of Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button and it's also been the scene of spectacular debuts, no less than that of Mark Webber who finished 5th for Minardi in 2002.

Lets not forget though, it has also had tragedy throughout its life. 2001. 52 year-old Graham Beveridge was struck by the tyre from Jacques Villeneuve's BAR after colliding with Ralf Schumacher and ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

New regulations; out with the old V8's and in with Turbocharged 1.6 litre V6's. Narrower front wings, lower noses, the revolutionary ERS system. The list goes on and on.

New tyres; Pirelli have gone back to the drawing board to find a more durable but yet unpredictable compound. New drivers; We wave goodbye to Webber and Van der Garde from their race seats and say hello to Marcus Ericsson and Daniil Kyvat.

The FIA set out to shake up the order with the new rules, and that is exactly what they've done. 2013 World Champions, Red Bull are nowhere. Williams, who scored only 5 points last year are proving to have a very competitive package and Lotus, who won the opener last year have hardly completed a race simulation.

It's leading to the one thing that fans and on-lookers of Motorsport crave; unpredictability. No-one really has any idea who will be on top once FP1 is over on Friday, or who will even be able to finish the session.

There are varying factors as to why Australia will go down in the history books this year, and an added number into the equation may be the threat of rain for Qualifying and the Race. Forecasters are predicting a 90% chance of a shower for the former, and a 60% chance for the latter, and with temperatures set to be in their teens, despite prior testing on the wet tyres, grip may become a serious problem.

Pole Position? Fastest Lap? Race Winner? Your guess will honestly be as good as mine. All we know is that the Bookies must having an absolute nightmare. The Works Mercedes team are probably in the best position, closely followed by the superb looking Williams and then perhaps comes McLaren and Ferrari. Judging by the pre-season form at least.

But testing pace doesn't really mean anything until you've got 22 drivers all fighting for the same piece of tarmac before slamming on the anchors in the hope that if you squint that you might make it through.

It's a complex game, and those twenty-two are the finest skilled athletes that still, to this day, risk life and limb for one ultimate thing; Glory.

The glory of being the quickest; pulling into the garage and knowing that you've given it everything that can be thrown at it. It's still not good enough, though. It's never good enough until you can finally stand on the top step of the podium and know that you are the best in the World. You gave it your all and finally, finally succeeded.

Whatever has happened and will happen, Albert Park has been nothing short of one word; spectacular. This year, is lined-up to be no exception. But who will cross the chequered flag first? Who will drink the champagne for the first time? We won't know until those five red-lights fade to black and over 13,000 BHP is deposited onto the tarmac.

So buckle up and lets go racing, Down Under.

Tom Brooks
Chief UK Editor