Formula one is staring into the unknown as the sport's revolutionary new era begins in earnest this weekend in Melbourne. "We can be neither too pessimistic nor too optimistic," said Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, "because it is likely that Australia will be a race in the dark for everyone in terms of performance."
The Spaniard was quoted by Italy's La Repubblica as saying "good points and even the podium" are realistic possibilities for Ferrari at Albert Park, but he is not sure even the apparent dominance of Mercedes can be trusted.
"Mercedes looks strong," he conceded, "but it was only testing. Now we will see the reality. It is the same for Red Bull. Many people talk about their problems, but maybe we will get to the first race and find them in front. Everything is yet to be discovered," added Alonso.
F1's all-new look has divided opinions. Former driver Patrick Tambay told France's RMC that he thinks 2014 could be a "world championship for engines, a world championship for engineers, with the drivers in the background".
But the taciturn Kimi Raikkonen insisted: "In the end, I think the races will be quite similar to before. "Over the years, from time to time we've always had to be saving something rather than just driving flat out from start to finish," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat.
"So it's nothing new really," he added, referring to the new fuel restrictions. I don't care to guess where we are or what will happen," added Raikkonen. "Let's see what happens on Friday and go from there."
Expecting more drama than that, however, is the veteran British commentator Martin Brundle, who thinks 2014 could be "the wildest season I have ever seen". "Some teams look like they will struggle to get their car to the start of the race, let alone the finish," he told the Daily Mail.
Indeed, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport has even been moved to ask FIA race director Charlie Whiting what will happen if not a single car reaches the chequered flag on Sunday. "The winner will be the driver who failed last," the Briton explained, adding that a two-lap countback may then apply. "So it could be that the winner is actually not the last survivor," said Whiting.
The bizarre situation of a feasibly zero per cent reliability rate could make it wise for teams to repair technical failures and put their cars back into the race, several laps down. "It might be worth changing an electronic box or a rear wing," confirmed Sauber team manager Beat Zehnder. (GMM)
F1 stares into the unknown as new era begins
- Published on 13 Mar 2014 10:36
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
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Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
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Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
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Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
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Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
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Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
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Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
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Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
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Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
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World Championship standings 2026
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 631
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 204
- Country ES
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (45)
- Place of b. Oviedo, ES
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 188,072 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
Team profile
- Team name Sauber
- Base - Switzerland
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Kimi Räikkönen 7
- Felipe Massa 8
- Marcus Ericsson 9
- Nico Hülkenberg 11
- Felipe Nasr 12
- Esteban Gutierrez 12
- Felipe Massa 12
- Felipe Massa 12
- Kamui Kobayashi 14
- Sergio Perez 15
- Charles Leclerc 16
- Kamui Kobayashi 16
- Sergio Perez 17
- Kimi Räikkönen 17
- Esteban Gutierrez 21
- Kamui Kobayashi 23
- Guanyu Zhou 24
- Nico Hülkenberg 27
- Antonio Giovinazzi 36
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- Pascal Wehrlein 94
- Adrian Sutil 99
- 115,816 comments on Sauber
- 5 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Sauber
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