It's time to reveal all

After a fascinating but ambiguous winter, Sky Sports F1's David Croft is looking forward to finding out some critical answers in Melbourne.

Right then. Toothbrush? Check. Commentary notes? Check. Passport? Check. West Ham shirt (essential for any trip). Reading material: Autosport, MotorSport and Classic Rock magazines? Check. Right then, ready for the off then, time to hit the road that leads from Melbourne to Sao Paulo and all points in between. Testing is finished, it's time to go racing. My first season covering F1 was 2006 when we started out in Bahrain. Not a bad location when it comes to the opening race, easier for the teams to set up and get parts flown out to, better for the broadcasters with bigger audiences and those who prefer a lie-in instead of having to get out of bed quite so early to get their first fix of the year. But it wasn't Melbourne and however much the organisers tried to put on a spectacular show, it lacked the soul and the passion for Formula 1 that the sporting mad city in Victoria possesses. The Australian Grand Prix is party time in Melbourne, be it at the track or elsewhere in the city. I love walking past Pete's Bar in the inside of the track near the Paddock where it's New Year's Eve meets the Best Birthday Ever, every single day. Lots of singing, people dancing on pianos, beer flowing like a river rushing to the sea. This year, no excuses, I will stop by and have a swift half with the Melbournians once the race is done. I'm sure the party will still be in full swing. Or popping down to the Stokehouse for some of the best fish and chips I've had the pleasure to sample, whilst looking out to another glorious sunset if the weather hasn't quite turned to autumn yet. And we're returning to this great city looking ahead to a new season. With new drivers, new team names, new tracks to come and of course a new job with a new channel as well! Something tells me that this could be a season to remember for many reasons. The one thing that was unanimous when I called in on final testing was that the times were close. All the teams were predicting a much tighter midfield and closer battles at the sharp end as well. Sadly we couldn't factor in HRT and Marussia to any predictions as they hadn't taken to the track by the end of pre-season testing. Such a shame and I for one was hoping that this year would be the one where both teams start to move forward. So far it hasn't started that well for either. At the front, Red Bull had reliability issues when they introduced the new chassis but Christian Horner was his usual confident self when we talked on the pit wall with the session coming to a close. No worries about the season ahead, more concern instead about his upcoming Silverstone half marathon, where he was running for the Wings For Life Charity. Hope he's not limping too much when he gets to Albert Park. So are we looking at a runaway Red Bull in Melbourne? Not exactly. The consensus from Barcelona was that McLaren are close enough to give them a real run for their money. But not just McLaren, down at Mercedes the confidence is quiet, but the atmosphere is calm and the smiles are broad enough to hint at a team that may fancy their chances. Different story at Ferrari who are either playing games or really are in deep doo doo. If they're not it's the best bit of sporting bluff since Ali's 'Rope A Dope'. If they say they're not in a position to win podiums at the start of the season, that's probably a good way to start managing expectations. Possibly a better piece of PR as well than stopping both drivers from talking to the media at the final test, a clear indication that all was not well and an unnecessary advertisement of their troubles. But Ferrari's loss could be Lotus gain, so expect them to be challenging in the Top 10 with Kimi Raikkonen who has already won once in Australia in his first race for a new team, and looks more than motivated to give his all for his latest employers. In the midfield, Sauber have already won one race - the first team race preview email of the year to hit my inbox goes to the boys and girls in Switzerland. Their car is pretty handy too, according to my sources. I just hope they find the sponsorship to allow them to develop it in the way they'd like to. Force India were more than happy with the way their car performed in its race simulations, Williams believe they're in better shape than this time last year and Caterham, albeit still wishing for more downforce, have still made gains and are running KERS for the first time. Which leaves Torro Rosso and what I think will be one of the most interesting team-mate v team-mate duels of the season. Jean Eric-Vergne is not a man lacking in confidence that's for sure, Daniel Ricciardo though has had plenty of plaudits on his way into Formula 1. If their car allows I'm sure both will score points this season and who knows, maybe even take Torro Rosso back to the days when a young German was making his mark on the sport. A young German that is still the man to beat in 2012 as he seeks the Triple Crown, a third world title in a row. And if Sebastian Vettel wins the title again then brilliant, you can't argue with a man reaching the top of his game on such a consistent basis. But I have a feeling that to begin with at least there will be plenty snapping at his heels and with the machinery to challenge. How close that challenge is we'll only fully find out in qualifying on Saturday morning, but a few more clues will definitely appear during the three practice sessions. All of which you can see on Sky Sports F1 HD. So even if you're not in Melbourne, come and join the party. Eight times in the past eleven seasons the Winner in Oz has become World Champion at the end of the year. It's a long road ahead but it seems a good start is more important than you might think. Vettel will I'm sure be there or thereabouts in Melbourne in 2012. But I can't see him winning by more than 22 seconds as he did last year. Hamilton and Button have to be regarded as contenders for the race too. If Schumacher can improve his qualifying performance, could he get in on the hunt for a podium and what about Raikkonen or Grosjean in the Lotus? One thing in Romain's favour is his experience from GP2 last year when time after time he had to nurse home a car suffering from excessive wear to his rear tyres Like I said, it's time to go racing, time for some answers after a winter of questions. Don't you just love the first race of the season.