CAR LAUNCHES
Gone are the glitzy unveilings of old. Now, they are combination of test
rollouts and online launches.
Force India – January 21, Mexico. (Livery launch only)
McLaren – January 29, online.
Ferrari – January 30, online.
Mercedes, Red Bull the rest – morning of February 1 in Jerez (to be
confirmed).
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Australian GP – March 15 (live on Sky)
Malaysian GP – March 29 (live on BBC Sky)
Chinese GP – April 12 (live on Sky)
Bahrain GP – April 19 (live on BBC Sky)
Spanish GP – May 10 (live on Sky)
Monaco GP – May 24 (live on Sky)
Canadian GP – June 7 (live on BBC Sky)
Austrian GP – June 21 (live on Sky)
British GP – July 5 (live on BBC Sky)
The British GP at Silverstone starts on July 5 (GETTY IMAGES)
German GP – July 19 (live on Sky)
Hungarian GP – July 26 (live on BBC Sky)
Belgian GP – August 23 (live on BBC Sky)
Italian GP – September 6 (live on Sky)
Singapore GP – September 20 (live on Sky)
Japanese GP – September 27 (live on BBC Sky)
Russian GP – October 11 (live on BBC Sky)
United States GP – October 25 (live on Sky)
Mexican GP – November 1 (live on Sky) * new to the calendar
Brazilian GP – November 15 (live on BBC Sky)
Abu Dhabi GP – November 29 (live on BBC Sky)
THE DRIVER LINE-UPS
Mercedes
– Lewis
Hamilton Nico Rosberg (unchanged)
Lewis Hamilton will hope to get the better of Nico Rosberg (Getty
Images)
Red
Bull – Daniel Ricciardo Daniil Kvyat (Sebastian Vettel
leaves for Ferrari, Kvyat comes in)
Williams
– Valtteri Bottas Felipe Massa (unchanged)
Ferrari
– Sebastian
Vettel Kimi Raikkonen (Fernando Alonso leaves for McLaren,
Vettel comes in)
McLaren
– Fernando Alonso Jenson
Button (Alonso comes in, Kevin Magnussen dropped to reserve)
Force
India – Nico Hulkenberg Sergio Perez (unchanged)
Toro
Rosso – Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz jr. (youngest
pairing in history)
Team
Lotus – Romain Grosejan Pastor Maldonado (unchanged)
Sauber
– Marcus Ericsson Felipe Nasr (both Esteban Guttierez
Adrian Sutil dropped)
Caterham (in doubt) – if they survive, their drivers are unknown. Ran Kamui
Kobayashi and Will Stevens in Abu Dhabi
Manor (in doubt) – on the entry list, but almost zero chance of making it to
Australia.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will both drive for McLaren (GETTY
IMAGES)
RULE CHANGES
There is very little change in the regulations from 2014, apart from the
following tweaks:
– Double points at the final race have been scrapped
– After the backlash around the ugly noses of the 2014 cars, the noses will
have to be lower to get around the aesthetically poor designs
– The number of engines or power units the teams can use falls from five in a
season to four
– A loophole in the rules means Ferrari and Renault will be able to develop
their engine mid-season
– A new ‘Virtual Safety System’ to slow the drivers down in dangerous
situations
– Partial ban on some team radio extended slightly to include specific
technical data