For all the interest and intrigue that comes with the first round of the season, Formula One left the Australian Grand Prix asking only one major question: what happened to Ferrari?
What is the perfect form of Formula One? There are no easy answers, but the sport’s authorities hope the plan they’ll present to teams today will be convincing enough to settle the long-running battle for the championship’s soul.
Okay, it’s far too early to definitively declare Valtteri Bottas as a serious threat to the runaway championship train that is Lewis Hamilton, but you’ve got to admit that a sporting story beginning with several nights of heavy Scandinavian drinking has a certain appeal.
Only the bravest of punters would’ve tipped Valtteri Bottas to romp into the setting Melbourne sun at such a convincing canter at the first race of the season.
When the flag drops the bullshit stops. Finally, with just days until the season-opening 2019 Australian Grand Prix, we’re about to get some concrete answers on just what kind of Formula One season we’re in for.
As much as the 2019 season is hotly anticipated as the next chapter of Ferrari vs Mercedes, important too is that it’ll be the very first chapter for a new crop of F1 debutants.
There’s only so much you can do with eight days of testing two weeks out from the season opener, but with tens of thousands of kilometres of running completed, we’re starting to get an idea of what to expect for the Australian Grand Prix.
Closer and faster for longer: that’s the aim of a series of small regulatory changes designed to have a substantial effect on the quality of racing in Formula One this season.
Formula One teams get just eight precious days to test their 2019 machinery ahead of next month’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. At the halfway mark, we can begin to draw some broad-brush conclusions.
Formula One’s teams had turned their attention to 2019 long before the dust had settled on the 2018 season, and this week’s first preseason test will be a key indicator as to which of them have planned wisely for the year ahead.