But who will it be in 2017……?
With Liberty Media having taking over from Bernie Ecclestone’s group, F1 has a new man in place, Ross Brawn who, as consultant to the new F1 business group, has been hard at work taking notice and implementing changes to rules, cars, tyres, technology and more importantly, the image of the sport, which fans say has become too predictable in recent seasons.
Last year’s World Champion Nico Rosberg retired shortly after winning the championship, leaving a potentially race winning seat open – step up Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, former driver for Williams. He partners three-time Word Champion, Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Having pretty much dominated the last few seasons of F1, Mercedes may face a big challenge from Ferrari this season. The Ferrari was looking pretty strong in testing and with two previous World Champions at the helm in Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikonnen, the mirrors of the Mercedes’ will no doubt be full of red as racing gets underway this weekend.
Red Bull are always in the running with talented Aussie Daniel Ricciardo and ‘one to watch’ Max Verstappen driving for the team again this year.
2017 F1 Teams and Drivers
Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
McLaren – Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Mercedes – Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
Renault – Nico Hulkenberg and Jolyon Palmer.
Williams – Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll.
Force India – Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.
Haas – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
Renault – Nico Hulkenberg and Jolyon Palmer.
Sauber – Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.
Toro Rosso – Carlis Sainz Jr and Daniil Kvyat.
Calendar of Races
Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne, 24-26 March
Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai, 7-9 April
Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 14-16 April
Russian Grand Prix – Sochi, 28-30 April
Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona, 12-14 May
Monaco Grand Prix – Monte Carlo, 25-28 May
Canadian Grand Prix – Montreal, 9-11 May
European Grand Prix – Baku, 23-25 June
Austrian Grand Prix – Spielberg, 7-9 July
British Grand Prix – Silverstone, 14-16 July
Hungarian Grand Prix – Budapest, 28-30 July
Belgian Grand Prix – Spa-Francorchamps, 25-27 August
Italian Grand Prix – Monza, 1-3 September
Singapore Grand Prix – Marina Bay, 15-17 September
Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang, 29 September – 1 October
Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka – 6-8 October
United States Grand Prix – Austin, 20-22 October
Mexican Grand Prix – Mexico City, 27-29 October
Brazilian Grand Prix – Sao Paulo, 10-12 November
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina, 24-26 November
First Race: Australia – race coverage begins at 5.30am on Sky Sports F1 with highlights on Ch 4 at 2pm Sunday 26th March.
