It doesn't seem that long ago that Lewis Hamilton made that quick start off the line and flew the Union Jack proudly around Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi to become only the fourth British driver to win the Formula One World Championship more than once.
A lot has happened for the Stevenage racer since then. He pipped Rory Mcllroy to BBC Sports Personality of the Year and his six year on-off relationship with former Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger, looks to be permanently off. Hamilton was surprised when he realised that he was the oldest driver in the room during Thursday's Driver's Press Conference and he is a much more wiser man compared with the one that last defended the title in 2009.
Hamilton admitted he has a car more likely to defend the title than five years ago and the formidable Mercedes will take some beating. Across the Mercedes garage is Nico Rosberg. A driver who has now experienced a title fight and is hungry to make the next step. In order to do that, Rosberg will have to beat Hamilton in a straight fight, and not crack under the pressure like he did going into Turn One at Monza.
Hamilton, beginning this season's gamesmanship, said that Fernando Alonso is the best team mate he has driven against, and this is the season Rosberg has to prove himself.
Alonso has proved himself time and again what he can get out of an under performing car and he has just that with McLaren Honda. The team's glory days of late 1980s/early 1990s are a distant memory now as McLaren have had a lot of reliability issues in pre-season testing. Honda are a year behind the other engine suppliers in power unit development and their pre-season woes have been similar to Renault last year. Renault's reliability improved later in 2014 and Honda are hoping they'll do the same this year.
Pre-season testing was eventful for Alonso as he crashed out of the Second Test at Barcelona. Running wide on Turn 3, the McLaren snatched back across the track and hit the inside barrier side on at 134mph. With no tyre barrier cushioning the blow to the most unprotected area of the car, Alonso suffered a concussion and awoke in hospital with retro-grade amnesia. Momentarily, Alonso believed he was back in 1995 and had obviously forgotten the day we met when I got an autograph from a little known Minardi driver at a Donington Park race day back in 2001!
The doctors were cautious about Alonso suffering a second concussion and have put him on bed rest. Kevin Magnussen gets his old job back, for a race at least, and partners Jenson Button once again. Button considered trying out for the Olympic triathlon at Rio 2016 if he hadn't got a drive this year and it is disappointing he hasn't had a fast car for most of his time at McLaren. Hopefully the team can get back up the field but they'll have to fight past a few teams.
Williams and Ferrari have shown in pre-season testing that they will be the best of the rest and will be hoping to clean up any scraps that the battling Mercedes may offer. Sebastian Vettel looks settled and rejuvenated at Ferrari and Valteri Bottas showed a lot of promise last year. Daniel Riccardo is now the undisputed Number One at Red Bull and can get a lot out of the car.
Red Bull's sister team, Torro Rosso, will be hoping success runs in the family with their rookie driving pair of Carlos Sainz Jr. (son of rally world champion) and Max Verstappen (son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen).
Lotus will look to improve on a poor 2014 and their change from Renault to Mercedes engine should help this. Lotus and Force India driver line-ups remain the same and this consistency may prove vital in the mid-field battles.
Marussia were destined to join Caterham as the defunct 2014 teams but an 11th hour deal has seen the team relaunched as Manor Marussia. Their 2014 car has been modified for this year's safety regulations and they should see a 2015 spec model by the European races in May. Jules Bianchi is unfortunately unavailable due to the horrific crash in Japan last year so British driver Will Stevens will have Roberto Merhi as his Manor Marussia team mate. However, Manor Marussia have had technical issues which have forced the team to remain in the pit garage. The driver line-up at Sauber has been a lot more problematic.
Giedo Van de Garde successfully fought Sauber in court over a breach of contract after he was ditched for Felipe Nasir and Marcus Ericsson and their more lucrative sponsorship money. Pay drivers have always been a part of the sport with Nikki Lauda paying his way into F1 but their necessity has become vital in modern F1.
Van de Garde arrived at the Albert Park track this week and had to apply for a guest pass to be allowed into the paddock. Armed with the guest paddock pass, he had to wear Ericsson's overalls because he didn't have any of his own.
Sauber's team principal Monisha Kaltenborn faces jail or a fine for contempt of court if Van de Garde doesn't drive this weekend. A fine is more likely, especially with Van de Garde not having a super licence. The FIA will have to grant Van de Garde a super licence before Saturday's final practice session for him to race and this may be unlikely with Sauber terminating his contract. Even if Van de Garde is successful in getting back in the car, his relationship with the rest of the team will surely be toxic.
Sauber are trying to settle the case out of court but the financial ramifications for the team could be fatal as they slip further down the grid.
The grid this weekend will likely be led by a Mercedes 1-2 with Rosberg pipping Hamilton in Second Practice by 0.1 seconds and Vettel by 0.715 seconds. Button finished in 13th and would be happy with that result in qualifying. But being 3.69 seconds off the pace, his team-mate hitting the wall, and four drivers not taking part in the session, the first aim for Button is to get into the second qualifying session.
Felipe Massa and Ricciardo sat out the session due to power unit issues and reliability problems plagued Pastor Maldonado and Verstappen as well.
So, can Hamilton join Sir Jackie Stewart, as a three-time British World Champion by the end of this season? Can Rosberg get the better of his team mate? Which other teams will win races this year? Can McLaren Honda surprise us all? Will Manor Marussia survive the season? Will Van de Garde get a drive?
The journey starts with lights out on Sunday.
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