The 2006 Formula One season is almost upon us, and it seems like only yesterday that I was shouting at the TV in utter joy as Fernando Alonso finally clinched the title to become the youngest ever F1 World Champion. Since then though, vacations have been taken, awards have been handed out and thousands of kilometres have been racked up in winter testing, all in preparation for the season start at the magnificent Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.

I must admit, I had gotten used to starting the F1 season at Albert Park in Australia, but at least it won’t be quite as early a start this year, with Bahrain only being three hours ahead. The Sakhir circuit is quite fabulous, and is wonderfully designed. Like Hungary, it can be quite a dustbowl at times, but this new date for the race should help matters. The circuits facilities are up there with all the other modern tracks, and it should prove to be a good season-opener.

In the following posts, I will discuss the new driver line up and how I think they will fair this year. I will be going through each team in their 2005 finishing order (in reverse), and I will end with a review of the qualifying format on the Friday, just 24 hours prior to the actual start on March 11th. The race itself is on the Sunday and should be showed at 4pm-ish (UK time) and I encorouge you to turn on to ITV and watch some of the worlds greatest drivers blitz their way around the track, all vying for the same bit of tarmac in the ultra-competitive universe that is Formula One.

So onward with 13 posts in 13 days. And I’m sure their will be plenty to discuss on Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and Monday 13th…