And so, after four months of anticipation, rumours, deals - some failed, others successful, testing and changes in both personnel and regulations, the Formula One roadshow will spring back into full action this weekend in Melbourne; for the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix.
A relief to all associated with the sport, whether it be as a driver, team member, media personality and first and foremost, a fan. It's a time for speculation, wide-eyed hope and a tad of delusion, as the sport may be in line for its most competitive season in five years. Will anyone be able to break the Mercedes dominance of the V6 Turbo Hybrid era?
With Nico Rosberg's surprise retirement, there's no defending champion on the grid. However, four former World Champions remain, all vying to reclaim the crown they once held.
So, who will prevail? Who will exceed expectations and who will fall below them? VAVEL Formula 1 takes a swing at guessing what will happen over the course of the next eight months.
Jake Nichol - @jakenicholf1498
Logic has to say that Lewis Hamilton will win title number four this season. He is firmly established as Mercedes unofficial ‘Number 1’ and chances are Valtteri Bottas will not be able to sustain a full season against him – in 2017 at least anyway.
For the sport, it would be good for someone else to win the title, either a previous title winner or a 34th world champion. Thinking about it like this, my heart says Kimi Raikkonen. There’s something about him and higher downforce cars and more durable tyres that just works, 2005 being his best season despite a 2007 world crown. If he gets off to a good start, he could be the dark horse this year.
Additionally, I can’t chose between Daniel Ricciardo or Sebastian Vettel. The Aussie was driver of the year in 2016 and will probably have enough to keep Max Verstappen at bay, for now. Vettel looked good in pre-season and looks to be more relaxed, owing to Ferrari's decreased hype around the SF70-H compared to this time last year.
Mercedes still the ones to beat
After such a big rule change such as what we have had over the winter, no championship winning team has carried on their success – the Red Bull example of 2013 into 2014 being the best one – but Mercedes had such an advantage over the rest of the pack in post Abu Dhabi it will be hard to topple them.
Chassis, engine wise and collectively, it's still the best package. The only thing that could harm them is that Bottas’s contract runs just for 2017, and if there are doubts creeping into his head (as there were during 2015 when Ferrari where sniffing about) come the run-in that could hamper their search for ‘The Quadruple’.
Hamilton himself has said that Ferrari are the favourites, deflecting tactic maybe, but he does have a point. The SF70-H is the most radical of the new cars, and if Ferrari nail it then they will be hard to catch. But this is Ferrari we are talking about, who, nine times out of 10 will shoot themselves in the foot.
Red Bull will have a great chassis, but the question mark over them is still the Renault power unit. Of course, they’ve made progress over the winter, but so have Mercedes and Ferrari. Also, with Ricciardo and Verstappen they have the most volatile line-up on the grid. If that explodes, then bye-bye constructors’ title.
Haas could shock the field
Judging by what we saw in pre-season, I think either Renault or Haas could prove to be the surprise package this season.
The French marque’s RS17 looks to be a solid package, and with a decent Power Unit behind it, the team target of fifth in the standings could be met easily, with podiums collected along the way.
With Haas, and I don’t like to say it, but how well they do depends on how well Ferrari do, owing to the closeness between the two, technically. Last season, the team did well when the VF-16’s Maranello cousin performed well and vice versa.
Still, with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen behind the wheel, another solid season and top five or six challenge could be on the cards.
Doom and gloom in Woking...again.
It’s obvious isn’t it? With nine out of the 10 teams, a below par season may be disappointing, and can be brushed off as a blip, but there is one team where failure cannot and will not be tolerated in 2017, but with what we have seen pre-season, or should that be have not seen, failure could be about what they are to serve up.
If you haven’t guessed already, I am of course referring to McLaren-Honda. Despite having one of the best chassis on the grid at the end of 2016, backed up by GPS tracking data, one of the all-time greats in Fernando Alonso behind the wheel, they struggled, and the root cause is the Honda Power Unit.
A big rebranding job was done at Woking over the winter, including the return of orange to the car, Ron Dennis being effectively sacked, and marketing guru Zak Brown being brought in.
Stoffel Vandoorne makes his full-time F1 debut this season, and so all the ingredients are there. Decent chassis, two top drivers, plentiful resources (although not bottomless) and a works engine supply, something only Mercedes and Ferrari have the luxury of. But it is just not working.
The last time McLaren were a competent race team was 2012 and they have had just two podium finishes since that season. Whatever way you look at it, that is just not acceptable.
There have been rookie mistakes from Honda as well. One of the problems encountered in pre-season testing that led to an engine change was a design fault in the shape of the oil tank. I put Alonso’s words from Canada 2015 back at Honda, “Already I have big problems now, looking like amateurs”. Problems like that simply should not be happening in the third season on the partnership, regardless of whether or not Honda have redesigned the engine.
The American Dream
I think this is more likely to happen toward the second-half of the season, at somewhere like Austin. The vibe of a city, I think is key to putting on a good race, and the vibe in Austin is among the best in the world, and rightly so.
Drivers want to give something back to the fans in a city that loves and knows it’s F1, as opposed to somewhere like Azerbaijan, with little motorsport heritage, where they maybe at 95% full attack. Also Austin has never had a dull race and so why should it start now?
Moreover, Austin isn’t that high of a downforce track. With the new cars creating loads more downforce as opposed to the ’16 ones, at places like Silverstone or Suzuka, it is going to be hard to follow the car ahead. Austin strikes just the right balance in my opinion. I've probably just jinxed it.
What I am most looking forward to this season
Q3 at the tracks which require more downforce, especially Suzuka. Watching the drivers take corners like 130R flat and carry more speed into the sector one sweeps will be awe-inspiring as the engines are turned up to the max, and fuel pumped out to the minimum. We will then see just how fast these new cars actually are.
On a side-note, I am looking forward to seeing just how long Alonso sticks out at McLaren-Honda before he quits, which I’ve a feeling he might do. Quit after Spain and watch McLaren win 1-2 in Monaco? Ouch.
Drivers' Champion - Lewis Hamilton
Constrcutors' Champion - Mercedes
Team to exceed expectations - Haas & Renault
Team to fall below expectations - McLaren
Best race - United States Grand Prix
James Eagles - @therealjeagles
Vettel's dismissive approach to Ferrari's title chances may have to be taken with a pinch of salt. The Scuderia's testing form has been typically good, leading the way on four out of the eight testing days in Barcelona. However, in years gone by, that form hasn't been carried into the season proper.
With a radically redesigned car and stable driver line-up with two men in Vettel and Raikkonen who understand each other, there's every reason to think that Ferrari can at least challenge Mercedes properly. But then again, Mercedes have often been caught sandbagging in testing, before shooting into the far distance come Melbourne. Hamilton considered the Italian team a major threat in the Thursday Press Conference, time will tell if he is right. But I still expect the Brit to earn a third title in four years.
The optimist in me craves for a six-way fight for the Drivers' Championship between Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo and Verstappen. Bottas, Ricciardo and Verstappen's drawbacks come in the form of a lack of experience fighting for a F1 world title - but their talent more than makes up for it. Are Red Bull hiding something? Maybe, for me it's hard to see them really struggle given the slight increase in aero dependency this year.
A Force to be reckoned with
The midfield battle will be an intriguing one. There seem to be more cars edging towards the top end of the grid, rather than the bottom - which is very encouraging. It teases the thought of a few shocks if the front-runners hit trouble. Can Force India get their maiden win in their wonderfully unique 'shocking pink' car? It would be very apt. Due to their brilliant work on a shoestring budget in the past - so much so that despite finishing fourth last year, they provided the most value for money of all the teams - they are my tip for the team to exceed everyone's expectations.
As for the team to disappoint - it's between three. All big names too, in Renault, Williams and McLaren. Can McLaren disappoint anymore after a dismal return to Honda engines? Getting the shape of the oil tank wrong means that you shouldn't rule anything out, and 2017 may really push Alonso's already thinning motivation to the very limit. Plus, you have to feel for Vandoorne - approaching his first full season after years of waiting in the wings. The improving Haas may be the team they scrap most with this year. A case of "I expected nothing, and I'm still disappointed".
Renault bring a big factory budget, and will certainly give a better showing than last year - they have to, otherwise Carlos Ghosn and his colleagues may be tempted to pull the plug on a works team. Again. With a decent driver line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Jolyon Palmer - who has shown to improve in a series with each passing year spent in it, top five with a few podiums should be the minimum, but is their engine up to the task? The loss of motorsport-mad Team Principal Frederic Vasseur does nothing to help either.
In regards to Williams, despite the returning Felipe Massa leading the way on the first day of the second test, it was an underwhelming winter for the iconic Grove team. The days of works Renault and BMW power are long gone - the deal with Mercedes perked results up immediately for 2014, but 2015 and 2016 saw the team go backwards from that third placed finish. Their last win came courtesy of Pastor Maldonado in 2012, and it's hard to see either Massa or rookie Lance Stroll changing that.
Brazil to bring the party
For the race of the year, it's hard to look past Brazil. Barring the red flag and Safety Car periods, last year's rain dance was a joy to watch, with crucial battles seen up and down the field. With a classic, uncompromising track, temperamental weather and new cars, expect another corker in 2017.
Drivers' Champion - Lewis Hamilton
Constrcutors' Champion - Mercedes
Team to exceed expectations - Force India
Team to fall below expectations - Williams
Best race - Brazilian Grand Prix