The start of testing in Valencia for the forthcoming 2010 Formula One season is as good a time as any to start the brand new, non-refuelling, no-shortcuts 
Formula 1 thread here. 
And it's looking like a grand line-up so far. Michael Schumacher has indeed promised that long-awaited comeback by joining up with Mercedes - formerly Brawn GP and still managed by Schumi's old friend Ross Brawn - alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg.... while in the chrome silver corner we have the all-British line-up of the last two World Drivers Champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, at McLaren. And of course, Ferrari attempting to make a mini-comeback of their own with a distinctively Latin line-up in former WDC Fernando Alonso and nearly-WDC Felipe Massa, who will hopefully be ready for Bahrain.
It seems the Sauber name, while strictly not really gone anywhere, is now back, having taken up the ashes of the BMW team, and picking up McLaren stalwart Pedro de la Rosa and (in my opinion) last year's top rookie Kamui Kobayashi, while Renault are hoping to put a tumultuous 2009 behind them with a distinctly East European line-up in lead driver Robert Kubica and GP2 runner-up Vitaly Petrov (the first Russian in F1).
It's business as usual for Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India, retaining their driver line-ups as seen at the end of 2009, while Williams opt for F1's most experienced man (and last year's runner-up) Rubens Barrichello and GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg.
As for Toyota drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli, with Toyota no longer a F1 team, they have moved onto the new teams, Glock to Virgin Racing (formerly Manor GP) with GP2 veteran Lucas di Grassi, and Trulli joining Heikki Kovalainen at the Anglo-Malaysian Lotus F1. (Yes, Lotus are back... kind of.
) Then of course there are the other new teams, US F1 and Campos Meta 1, the former featuring former Renault test driver Jose Maria Lopez (backed by the entire Argentinian government, it seems) and latter featuring a certain Bruno Senna.
For me, it'll be great to see 13 teams on the grid once again, something I hadn't seen since the early to mid 90s. Sure, it's not a patch on the late 80s when dozens of teams fought in prequalifying before the actual qualifying session, but I get the feeling that there'll be a very interesting, new feel to this season compared to the previous ones.
Formula 1 thread here. And it's looking like a grand line-up so far. Michael Schumacher has indeed promised that long-awaited comeback by joining up with Mercedes - formerly Brawn GP and still managed by Schumi's old friend Ross Brawn - alongside fellow German Nico Rosberg.... while in the chrome silver corner we have the all-British line-up of the last two World Drivers Champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, at McLaren. And of course, Ferrari attempting to make a mini-comeback of their own with a distinctively Latin line-up in former WDC Fernando Alonso and nearly-WDC Felipe Massa, who will hopefully be ready for Bahrain.
It seems the Sauber name, while strictly not really gone anywhere, is now back, having taken up the ashes of the BMW team, and picking up McLaren stalwart Pedro de la Rosa and (in my opinion) last year's top rookie Kamui Kobayashi, while Renault are hoping to put a tumultuous 2009 behind them with a distinctly East European line-up in lead driver Robert Kubica and GP2 runner-up Vitaly Petrov (the first Russian in F1).
It's business as usual for Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India, retaining their driver line-ups as seen at the end of 2009, while Williams opt for F1's most experienced man (and last year's runner-up) Rubens Barrichello and GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg.
As for Toyota drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli, with Toyota no longer a F1 team, they have moved onto the new teams, Glock to Virgin Racing (formerly Manor GP) with GP2 veteran Lucas di Grassi, and Trulli joining Heikki Kovalainen at the Anglo-Malaysian Lotus F1. (Yes, Lotus are back... kind of.
) Then of course there are the other new teams, US F1 and Campos Meta 1, the former featuring former Renault test driver Jose Maria Lopez (backed by the entire Argentinian government, it seems) and latter featuring a certain Bruno Senna.For me, it'll be great to see 13 teams on the grid once again, something I hadn't seen since the early to mid 90s. Sure, it's not a patch on the late 80s when dozens of teams fought in prequalifying before the actual qualifying session, but I get the feeling that there'll be a very interesting, new feel to this season compared to the previous ones.
)
