FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES
The VJM02 car took a lot of people by surprise towards the end of last season, with a series of exceptional performances on the faster tracks. This year's VJM03 car has shown that this was not an accident with a series of performances in pre-season testing which were, at the very worst, solid. A serious battle for 5th place in the Constructors' Cup beckons.
Car 14: ADRIAN SUTIL (D)
BIOGRAPHY: Adrian Sutil was born in Starnberg on 11th January 1983. A long-time friend and teammate of Lewis Hamilton, Sutil spent much of his European racing career in the Briton's shadow. The winner of the 2002 Swiss Formula Ford 1800 series, it was not until he went to Japan that he scored his first major single-seater championship success, the 2006 All-Japan Formula 3 title.
F1 PEDIGREE: 2010 will be Adrian Sutil's 4th Formula 1 season. He has driven in 52 races but scored points on just two occasions, one of which - a battling 4th place at Monza last Autumn - gave him his best ever championship placing of 17th. Much of that has been down to shortcomings in the car, but the shortcomings of his current mount are becoming less and less by the race. He needs to perform in 2010.
PROSPECTS: Sutil seems to be the modern-day Andrea de Cesaris. Sometimes fast - sometimes incredibly so - but too often embroiled in chaos of his own making. His natural speed and talent is made abundantly clear by his consistently excellent performances in the wet and at Monaco. However, performing brilliantly for 85% of the race distance before taking two or more corners off the car just doesn't cut it at this level. With Paul di Resta - a highly-rated young Scot - now in place as the team's third driver, Sutil needs to add some reliability to temper his speed, and quickly.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: Adrian Sutil finishes every single race of the season, accruing a hatful of points for his patient employers.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Sutil continues his one-man quest to start a Formula 1 parts business and is replaced by Paul di Resta in mid-season.
Car 15: VITANTONIO LIUZZI (I)
BIOGRAPHY: Vitantonio Liuzzi was born in Locorotondo on 6th August 1981. A player on the scene in European single seaters for almost a decade, Liuzzi's biggest claim to fame so far was his success in the 2004 International Formula 3000 championship, the last Formula 3000 series before it was replaced by GP2. Having finished 4th the previous season, Liuzzi produced a record-breaking send off for the series, winning 7 out of 10 events.
F1 PEDIGREE: A Red Bull protegé, Liuzzi made his Formula 1 bow at Imola in 2005, driving for the factory team. In 2006 and 2007 he ran full campaigns for their junior Toro Rosso outfit. All in all, he has scored points on 4 occasions in 44 races, with a best of 6th. This year should prove to be his best opportunity yet to show what he can do with a competitive car.
PROSPECTS: Liuzzi has never really shown the form that won him the F3000 title at the top level. However, he is a popular and respected competitor amongst his fellow practitioners. He's solid if unspectacular, which arguably makes him the ideal foil for Adrian Sutil. However, I expect him to outscore the German over the course of the full season.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: Liuzzi gets a slice of luck somewhere and sneaks onto the podium.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Liuzzi is outpaced and outscored by Adrian Sutil, with only his lower repair bills saving him from the mid-season chop.
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO-FERRARI
2010 sees a big step forward for the Red Bull junior team, with their STR5 car the first they have produced without any design assistance from the factory outfit. This is a shame for them, as last year's Red Bull car ended the season as the undeniable class of the field. They'll be looking to get into the fight to be the best of the midfield teams, with Force India, Sauber, Williams and Renault, but I don't think they'll quite have the puff.
Car 16: SÉBASTIEN BUEMI (CH)
BIOGRAPHY: Sébastien Buemi was born in Aigle on 31st October 1988. Despite his youth, he's proved a very capable driver in both Formula 3 and GP2, with multiple race wins to his name in either category. However, he is yet to win a major single-seater title.
F1 PEDIGREE: Question marks were raised over Buemi as he began his first year in Formula 1 in 2009. A 20-year old Swiss driver is hardly the stuff Formula 1 legends are made of. As it turned out, he was one of the finds of the year. Never out of place at the top table, Buemi went on to make a thorough nuisance of himself throughout the season, twice qualifying in the top 10 on pace alone and scoring points on 4 occasions - including in Melbourne on his debut.
PROSPECTS: After such a solid debut year, 2010 could prove the difficult second season for Buemi. Now very much the team leader at STR, despite his tender years, he has to continue to show his potential whilst also shouldering more responsibility. I think it could prove a difficult ask. However, we all thought the same thing last year.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: Buemi continues in the same vein as 2009, getting more points on the board.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Buemi is outpaced by his teammate and finds himself facing life as an F1 reject aged just 22.
Car 17: JAIME ALGUERSUARI (E)
BIOGRAPHY: Jaime Alguersuari was born in Barcelona on 23rd March 1990. He is the first Formula 1 driver to have been born in that decade. However, although he's still not 20, he has two championship titles to his name: the 2006 Italian Formula Renault Winter Series and the prestigious British Formula 3 championship in 2008.
F1 PEDIGREE: The youngest man ever to start a Grand Prix, Alguersuari was very much thrown in at the deep end in Hungary 2009. With in-season testing at that time banned - it has since been amended to allow drivers who have not driven a Grand Prix in the last 2 years have a day's practice before starting a race meeting - Alguersuari did an admirable job of qualifying at a very respectable pace and then finishing the race. His lack of experience began to tell in some later races, with inconsistency and accidents creeping in on a Sunday afternoon. His best finish in Formula 1 is 12th place.
PROSPECTS: Alguersuari was mightily impressive in the way he acquitted himself in 2009, as the challenge he faced was an enormous one. His next big test is to take a step up in performance, having had a full winter's testing programme. I expect good things from Alguersuari, but not quite yet.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: A series of solid race finishes, culminating in some points here and there.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Alguersuari finds himself back in a testing role as Red Bull move another of their young drivers into the race seat for 2011.
LOTUS RACING-COSWORTH
The T127 car was literally not even conceived of, let alone drawn or built as late as September 2009, so its place on the grid in Bahrain is little short of miraculous. Their pre-season testing times have been less so... indeed, at times they have been little short of embarrassing. However, there is solid investment behind the project, a good engineering team and experienced drivers. Things will get better as the season draws on.
Car 18: JARNO TRULLI (I)
BIOGRAPHY: Jarno Trulli was born in Pescara on 13th July 1974. He won the prestigious German Formula 3 championship aged 22 in 1996.
F1 PEDIGREE: Trulli starts 2010 as the field's third most experienced driver, a veteran of 219 Grand Prix. He made his debut in Australia in 1997 for Minardi, moving to Prost after Olivier Panis broke his legs at the Canadian race. In his 13th race, he led the Austrian Grand Prix for half its distance, but from then on his potential has never truly been realised. Later a driver for Jordan, Renault and Toyota, Trulli is invariably a better qualifier than he is a racer, although he has eleven podium finishes including one Grand Prix win to his name - at Monaco in 2004, also the year in which he enjoyed his best ever championship position of 6th.
PROSPECTS: Experienced, yes, and a brilliant qualifier, but Jarno Trulli has always flattered to deceive at the top level. Time after time his pace fades badly on race day, to the extent that rival teams' strategists plan contingencies should their car get caught in one of his legendary midfield Trulli trains. The pity is that in modern Formula 1, with its strictly limited testing, that a driver of Trulli's experience is utterly invaluable despite his shortcomings.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: Jarno Trulli will find more speed on race day than he did in qualifying and not hold anybody up all year.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Trulli will flounder about at the back but never, ever get fired until he is 95-years old.
Car 19: HEIKKI KOVALAINEN (SF)
BIOGRAPHY: Heikki Kovalainen was born in Suomussalmi on 19th October 1981. Hugely experienced and very successful in European single-seater racing, Kovalainen first made his name in Britain before adding the World Series by Nissan title to his CV in 2004. The following season he finished as runner-up to Nico Rosberg in the inaugural GP2 Series, with a very respectable five race wins. Outside of competitive motorsport, he is perhaps best known as having beaten Michael Schumacher in the final of the 2004 Race of Champions rally event.
F1 PEDIGREE: Kovalainen made his race debut for Renault in 2007, having stepped up from test driver. It was a slow start in a tricky car, but he eventually started to find his feet to score some good results, including an excellent 2nd at a streaming wet Fuji Speedway in 2007. A move to McLaren for 2008 and 2009 saw him go one better, inheriting a victory in the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix after Felipe Massa's Ferrari engine failed. This makes Lotus the only team from outside the big four to boast two Grand Prix-winning drivers on its books.
PROSPECTS: Kovalainen's reputation and confidence has taken a significant hit alongside Lewis Hamilton for the past two seasons. In 2008 he looked to be still finding his feet, but scored a win, a pole and some fastest laps and looked to be building up to a better 2009. The car's shortcomings put a stop to that, but whilst Hamilton never stopped improving throughout a difficult season, Kovalainen seemed mired in the midfield, even when the car had developed past that level. He has much to prove in 2010. Beating Jarno Trulli would be a useful start for rebuilding his reputation, especially in qualifying.
IN AN IDEAL WORLD: Kovalainen outqualifies Trulli more often than not. A point if they get really, really lucky.
IF THE WHEELS COME OFF: Kovalainen's stock in F1 hangs by a thread after his mauling at McLaren, and a season of coming off second-best to Jarno Trulli will most likely see him having to find another form of motorsport to try.
Tomorrow: Ferrari, Williams and Renault.
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