Sky Sports' F1 commentator David Croft reckons there's every reason to believe that 2012 will prove a cracker.
The Sky Sports F1 commentator tells us why the battle for the title in 2012 could be more open than many are predicting...
Sebastian Vettel may have blown his rivals away en-route to one of the most dominant title wins ever last season, but only a brief delve into Formula 1's history will show that nothing lasts forever in this most competitive of sports.
Sky Sports' F1 commentator David Croft reckons there's every reason to believe that 2012 will prove a cracker and below proceeded to tell us exactly why...
Sebastian Vettel ran away with the title last year but what makes you think this season could be different?David Croft: Brand new season, brand new cars. There's nothing on that Red Bull that's the same as last year; nothing on the McLaren really that's the same as last year.
Yes, they're evolutions the cars, but they are a completely different build. Red Bull had a great season last year in reliability and success, but in the year before they had a few races where their reliability didn't go quite so well.
Adrian Newey has designed fantastic cars, but he's also designed some bad cars that haven't worked that well over the years as well. And Formula 1's a cyclical thing - you're only as good as your last race win.
So many things could happen between now and the start of the season, between the start of the season and the end of the season, that turns success into misery.
You can never predict a runaway season, and I'm always the eternal optimist on that one. We might get to Australia and Sebastian Vettel might romp away with it again. He's certainly the man that the others have to catch, but you can bet your bottom dollar there are a few secrets that we haven't found yet that the teams are keeping to themselves that will give one or two teams an advantage at different stages of the season.
And do you know what; if it is another runaway victory for Sebastian Vettel, if it is another season where he dominates, then so what? Sometimes you have to sit back and admire what's going on in front of you and say 'You know what, we want a bit of competition and we want it close but that's perfection out there'.
Perfection should be admired and it shouldn't be criticised - besides, we had more overtaking last year than we had in many, many years. We had some great races last year, some absolute bonkers races, where no one knew what was going on.
And all around this Sebastian Vettel was fighting a World Championship, building on his lead race after race after race. You had the perfection, you had the drama, put them both together and I thought it was a decent season.
What races are you looking forward to most?David: Canada, without a doubt. Canada always throws up exciting races and last year it was probably the most dramatic race I've ever commented on.
Jenson Button going from last to first and having to do it the hard way - taking a penalty, his team-mate crashed into him, he crashed into Fernando Alonso. Brilliant race; it lasted over four hours - which won't happen this year by the way, there's a four hour time limit now. But it's always a good race, Canada, and it's a great city [Montreal] as well, it embraces Formula 1.
I'm really looking forward to going back to America - Formula 1 should be in the USA and the Austin Grand Prix, assuming they get the track built which I'm sure they will. I think it's going to be absolutely fabulous.
And Brazil; such an iconic track and it never for me fails to deliver on excitement over that weekend. Spa; it's always great to see the cars going around Spa as well. And then starting off in Australia and Malaysia - I think Malaysia is turning into a really good track, it's bedded in beautifully now for Formula 1.
I've not even mentioned Monaco, which is always the best sight in world sport let alone in Formula 1, and Silverstone. I don't think Silverstone gives us as close racing with the modern-day cars as it did many years ago, but it does give us great, high-speed action on a track you don't have to put your brakes on for about two-thirds of the circuit. Copse is still a fearsome corner; Maggots and Becketts - it's a delight to watch the cars going through there.
It's a home grand prix that I think in the UK we can be very proud of - I love going to Silverstone.
What is your assessment of the two British drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button's, chances this year?David: I think at times last year Lewis was in a place where he didn't really want to be and didn't quite know how to get out of that place.
Well, he's got a new advisor in Didier Coton coming in. He's at a team that still love him. He is I think, as the years go on, getting more and more mature, but he's still got five years on Jenson Button to try and play catch up.
And he would have seen his team-mate, and the way his team-mate acts, at a race weekend. I think he wants more of that family - sort of 'Team Hamilton' - inclusion, and I really hopes it works for him because Lewis Hamilton is a fine driver - make no mistake on that - and he hasn't lost that ability. He's just kind of stumbled away from the place that he really wants to be at the moment.
I hope he's back on with Nicole [Scherzinger] because he seems to be really happy when he's together with Nicole and they seem to be a good fit together. And if a happy Lewis Hamilton is a good driving Lewis Hamilton then great, bring it on.
Jenson Button I think will build on his championship-winning year [of 2009] and his first two years at McLaren to deliver once more.
In qualifying it doesn't always go to plan for Jenson, he could do with qualifying a little further up the grid more regularly, but he's a fine driver and he's certainly made the best of the Pirelli tyres. It's not all about the Pirelli tyres: I think there's more aggression in Jenson Button's driving than we've seen in the past as well and some of his race wins last year, Japan for instance, were absolutely fantastic performances.
If the car is there for Hamilton and Button they're going to have a fine season. They're going to take points off each other, which might not be the best for them - which is where Sebastian Vettel might have the edge. If Mark Webber can't raise his game then he's going to be there to challenge his team-mate and that will certainly help Vettel.
In the same way (Fernando) Alonso not being challenged by Felipe Massa helps Alonso's title challenge as well. I'd like to see Massa back to how he was in the days when he was winning grands prix when he was partnering Michael Schumacher, but I saw scant evidence last year that that was going to happen.
But it would be nice to see Felipe Massa come good again in what is a massive year for him in terms of it being his last year at Ferrari and he wants to at least prove to them he's got a couple more years left, or prove to another suitor that he can stay in Formula 1.
It's a massive year for Mark Webber as well because he can't afford another year like last year, for his own personal pride as much as anything. Massive year for Lewis Hamilton as we've mentioned. Another big year for Button and for Vettel and for Alonso. And then there's the return of Kimi Raikkonen as well. Can he get amongst some of the top runners in that Lotus?
There are so many different subplots to this 2012 season - it's a good job we've got our own channel to feature it on really!
Raikkonen's return means there are six World Champions on the grid for the first time. Can he, and the other ex-champion we haven't mentioned yet, Michael Schumacher, get at the business end of races this year?David: If they've got the car to do it, yes. Formula 1 is a team sport, so if the team have come up with the car then they can do it. They're great drivers - their talent doesn't diminish overnight.
Yes, Michael Schumacher's found it a bit harder coming back into the sport, but there are still I think examples he's given of the old Schumacher at work there.
And we've got every single World Champion haven't we since the year 2000 on the grid. Six World Champions, 24 top-class drivers...
Three Frenchmen as well - the home of grand prix racing has three Frenchmen to go on and cheer. Two Brits at McLaren. Paul di Resta driving for Force India...
Big year for Paul di Resta, who proved he's got what it takes in his rookie season and I'd love to see Paul go on [to further success] - can he get a podium in his second year of Formula 1? On ability, yes, if the car's good enough then Paul di Resta could certainly be in the top three of a race this season.
I think he's very much one for the future.
Finally, to nail your colours to the mast, who do you think is going to win the World Championship this year?David: We've had one test so far...
You've got to say Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have the resources and the momentum and the experience to go on and do it again. But I'm not going to nail my colours to the mast just yet, not until I've seen a little bit more action out on the track because I get the feeling - I could be proved wrong - but it might be a little bit more open than some people are thinking.
But who knows. Until we get to qualifying in Australia, we won't know who's got the advantage. Even after qualifying we still might not know who's got the advantage because it's Formula 1 - you don't want to flex your muscles too quickly on this one, you want to keep the others guessing.
If I'm going to plump for a name I'll plump for Vettel at the moment, but allow me to change my mind before the season starts!
