LONDON: Formula One has mixed up the ingredients this season to create a new recipe for excitement with more world champions, including the youngest ever in Sebastian Vettel, and an added dash of Indian spice. The arrival of Italy's Pirelli as sole tire supplier in place of Japan's Bridgestone will have an immediate impact when the racing starts in Australia next week, with many more pitstops and changed strategies. The debut of four newcomers, including Mexico's Sergio Perez at Sauber and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado at Williams, marks the return to the Grand Prix paddock of nations whose drivers have been absent for decades. India will see first-hand what F1 is all about when the country hosts its first Grand Prix near New Delhi in late October, with home-grown racer Narain Karthikeyan looking forward to being back on the starting grid for the first time since 2005. Add moveable rear wings, the controversial return of previously-banned ‘team orders' and the revival of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) to the menu, and there should be enough to satisfy the appetite of any racing fan. “I think in the championship it is going to be far more exciting,” F1 great Stirling Moss, still an avid race watcher at 81, told Reuters. “There are so many new things that have come in where the driver's input is going to mean quite a lot more than it did last year. I am looking forward to the best year for years.” Vettel, who will line up on the grid in Australia on March 27 with a new contract and the champion's number one on his Red Bull for the first time, is now the main man at the tender age of 23. Red Bull has been quick and reliable in testing and, although Ferrari has at times been quicker and done more mileage, some suspect the champions of keeping their powder dry. “I think Ferrari look very strong, I think people are under-estimating where Ferrari are. We hope that we are somewhere near competitive,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told reporters this week. “There's a few teams that have shown good form in testing, Mercedes have recently taken a step. It's difficult to say where McLaren are; one thing's for sure, they will at some point emerge near the front of the field. I think it's doubtful that you will see one team dominate and run away with the first five races for example.” All will be revealed in Melbourne, but Vettel is sure to be a leading contender. “He will go into the next year with his confidence certainly high and in many respects it's a degree of expectation already dealt with,” said Horner. “If he hadn't have won there would be that ‘Oh, Vettel's got to do it this year; now or never' kind of thing. “He's achieved the championship, he turns up in Melbourne as the reigning world champion with the No. 1 on his car and I think that will give him an added confidence and desire with perhaps not quite the pressure had he not have done it.” Vettel will be one of five world champions – the most since 1970 – in a season that criss-crosses the globe with a record-equalling 19 races. There could even be 20 rounds, although that looks highly unlikely now, were Bahrain to be reinstated after having to scrap its season-opening March 13 slot due to anti-government unrest in the Gulf kingdom. Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, continuing his comeback with Mercedes, will be seeking to return to the podium for the first time since 2006 while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso looks sure to be challenging for his third crown after being let down by the Italian team's strategy at the end of last term. McLaren's 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton and 2009 title-holder Jenson Button may have more of a struggle with their car alarmingly off the pace in pre-season testing. Germany's Nico Rosberg is gunning for the first win of his Formula One career, having comfortably beaten teammate Schumacher last year, while Brazilian Felipe Massa needs to counter any impression that he is Alonso's number two at Ferrari. Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber actually has the number two on his car but expects to be competing against the German on level terms. “Mark knows that this year is a big year for him, he will get full support,” said Horner. “I think he has (got what it takes to be champion). He came close last year. Going into that final race, he was the one that was the more likely of the two to win it. It didn't pan out for him but he's continued to evolve and grow stronger. “I'm sure that those lessons that he's learned last year will stand him in good stead for the challenges of this year,” added the Briton. The big absentee will be Poland's Robert Kubica, second last year for Renault in Melbourne, after his career-threatening and near-fatal crash while competing for fun in a minor rally in Italy in February.
