Welcome, everyone! Please strap yourself in and enjoy my preview of the Formula One 2020 season. It’s been a crazy few years at the pinnacle of world motorsport, and I hope you’re ready for another wild ride this time around.
This season looks set to be another cracker, with a record 58 races, including one on the brand-new, purpose-built circuit on the moon. Concerns about the lack of gravity at the loony, lunar event have been swatted aside and, despite some reservations, I can’t wait for Formula One’s debut in outer space. Formula One is always looking to be one step ahead of trends, although there are still concerns that the sport is not commercially attractive enough outside of our solar system.
Tomorrow’s season starts with the traditional curtain-raiser in Australia, where Pirelli have, as expected, brought the super-super soft and super-super-super soft tyre compounds. It should allow for some thrilling racing, but there are worries that the tyres may go off during the formation lap. That would ordinarily suit the tyre-preservation skills of Jenson Button, but he is still waiting on McLaren to confirm his place on the team, as he has been since 2015. In that time, Button famously set up his own F1 team, which went into administration last year.
Speaking of McLaren, it is baffling that they are still unable to choose between Jenson and Kevin Magnussen, given that the teams are now able to run six cars. Initial reports of Audi, Batman and Transport for London running a team proved to be wide of the mark so, once again, we will have just the four teams on the grid in 2020. Therefore, we know that we will be limited to 24 drivers this season.
World champion Lewis Hamilton looks like favourite to win his ninth world title, following his wins in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 (when there were two seasons in one year), 2018 and 2019. The constant rule changes have not affected his dominance of the sport in recent years, and it is difficult to see anyone challenging him, not least Nico Rosberg, who has now finished second in a record 57 consecutive races.
Talking of rule changes, it will be interesting to see how the further restrictions on fuel limits will play out this season. To reiterate, cars are limited to just 1kg of fuel each race, so taking it easy will be required at the start of races, before a need to slow it down a bit, and then taking it down a notch towards the end.
Who can challenge Hamilton this year then? Well, Fernando Alonso hopes he has finally found the right formula this time around, with this being his third spell at Ferrari, following unsuccessful spells at McLaren, Red Bull AND Mercedes. The Spaniard’s talent is still undeniable, but he seems unable to settle on a team which works for him. As for Sebastian Vettel – whose own spell at Ferrari was so unspectacular, he was fired halfway through his first race – it was rumoured that he might return to the sport this year.
Unfortunately, that is not so. As for Daniel Ricciardo, a return to motorsport also looks unlikely for him, given his role as energy secretary at the UN, with his smile able to power millions of homes across the globe. He is likely to be far too busy to come back to F1. When asked if he minded, he - rather predictably - simply smiled.
Who else can mount a challenge? Well, there are some young drivers hungry for a shot at success, with two 14-year-olds on the grid this season, competing despite being unable to drive cars at home. Max Verstappen, now a veteran in the sport at the ripe old age of 23, has often threatened race wins, but not quite delivered.
That said, there is every chance that this year will be more wide open than ever, and we could yet see a cracking (no pun intended) decider on the ice in Antarctica. If not, it could be a while before we see someone other than the Silver Arrows of Mercedes winning races in Formula One again. The past few years have been crazy, but expect the future to be just as unpredictable.
