Ferrari will be hoping to rekindle some of the magic that made the Scuderia name so legendary in the world of motorsport. Ferrari will be hoping to open the gap over the rest of the grid, while also hoping to finally pose a constant threat to the dominant Mercedes.
Can They Finally Reel In The Mercedes?
Ferrari were widely acknowledged last season to be the best of the rest, and the only team who could realistacally hold a flame to Mercedes but surely this is the season where everyone else catches up?
Ferrari had a mass clearance of staff last year and while they didn't reap the full rewards last year, it was a mass improvement on before. New Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene will be looking to continue his good work this season.
It will be engineering where Ferrari will need to catch up. Although Ferrari weren't believed to have any horsepower defecit to the Mercedes, it is the chassis that must improve. Mercedes had nailed their chassis and their aerodynamics were absolutely spot on. Ferrari however didn't have as strong a chassis and Ferrari had decided to choose tyre friendly aerodynamics rather than Mercedes choice of speed.
Last Season For Raikkonen?
Despite consistent rumours last season that Valtteri Bottas was going to be joining the Italian outfit, Ferrari resisted the media temptation and have stuck with Bottas' fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Despite having his team's backing it's looking increasingly bleak for the 2007 World Champion. Raikkonen has for years now been underachieving when compared to the masses of potential he is believed to have had.
Raikkonen achieved his worst ever finish to a season in 2014 and was immediately dominated by Sebastian Vettel in 2015. The Finn has stated before that he wanted Ferrari to be the season he ended his career with, although he may not have meant as soon as the end of 2016.
Vettel Aiming For Fifth Driver's Title
While many will be expecting Lewis Hamilton to equal Vettel's haul of four Driver's Titles in 2016, Vettel will not be one of them. Despite it looking likely that Mercedes will dominate Formula One again, the German driver will be doing everything he can to at least split the two Mercedes cars in the 2016 Driver's Championship.
Last season Vettel was the only driver on the grid to even be close to the Mercedes' with his battles with Nico Rosberg being one of the very few highlights of the season. But with the two Mercedes drivers seemingly being to preoccupied with their own interteam battle, Vettel will be hoping to capitalise on any mistake.