Hamilton and co gearing up for another year of drama

Even before the first engine roars, Formula One can be heard drawing breath this week in readiness for another year of drama, intrigue and trepidation, starting with the final countdown to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Fewer cars, teams and drivers will start this year's championship, one of the sport's stars is mysteriously missing amid a spiral of conspiracy theories, and, as financial constraints continue to eat into its balance sheets, the global juggernaut that mixes glamour, danger and speed faces an uncertain future.
At 84, the sport's enduring commercial ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone is also under scrutiny.
After the tumultuous events in 2014 when Briton Lewis Hamilton seized his second drivers world championship from the clutches of Mercedes team-mate and season-long rival Nico Rosberg in a brutal finale in Abu Dhabi, a similar on-track sporting scenario is in prospect.

Pre-season testing has suggested that Mercedes have improved both chassis and engine and extended their advantage. 'Catch me if you can' is the most-used headline in the run-up to Sunday's race at Albert Park where Rosberg was flawless and triumphant a year ago, setting up a duel with Hamilton that shifted through the gears as the story unfolded.
Off-circuit, however, it is a different matter.

The grid has been reduced following the demise of the Caterham team and only 20 cars are expected to line up for the opening race, or 18 if the Manor-Marrusia outfit, a re-hashed team built from the remnants of last year's Marussia, fails to qualify.

Safety procedures have been revised and, hopefully, improved after the accident in Japan that left Frenchman Jules Bianchi fighting for his life after aquaplaning into a collision with a recovery vehicle in teeming rain.
- talent and race-craft -
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His survival battle overshadowed the final races in which Hamilton stole away from Rosberg with a demonstration of talent and race-craft that has installed him as favourite to land a third title.
At 30, and single again if the latest reports of his on-off-on-off relationship with singer Nicole Scherzinger run true, he may have the maturity and motivation to dominate.

After their moves from Ferrari to McLaren and Red Bull to Ferrari respectively, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were expected to emerge as contenders with their new teams as each seeks more glory to revive a once spectacular career.
Spaniard Alonso won two titles with Renault before his unrewarded toil with the scarlet scuderia while Vettel, four times a champion at Red Bull, was out-performed last year by Australian Daniel Ricciardo.