Formula 1 set for unpredictable Australian Grand Prix

Formula 1 teams’ and drivers’ are expecting this weekends season-opener in Australia to be a highly unpredictable affair, with qualifying and the race potentially throwing up a few surprises. After 12 days of testing which offered no indication to a dominant team as of yet, it is believed any midfield team could excel on Sunday.

Coupled with the new regulations regarding the blowing of exhaust gases in 2012, along with Pirelli’s new and aggressive tyres, there is a great recipe for excitement at the Australian Grand Prix.

As ever during pre-season testing, not one team looked a dominant force. However, it is strongly believed by many in the F1 paddock that this will continue throughout the early stages of the season as teams’ get to grips with understanding the new Pirelli tyres.

The other factor adding to what could be an enthralling spectacle is the record breaking six World Champions’ on the grid for 2012. What with the return of ‘Iceman’ Kimi Raikkonen for this season with Lotus, F1 now has every World Champion since 2000 on the grid, something that has never been seen before in the sport.

"It is great for Formula 1 to have so many world champions," said Mercedes team principal, Ross Brawn to AutoSport. "It is the quality of the field and the fact that the cars look like they are going to be close this year, it is going to be a really exciting season and it could be one of the best seasons we have seen for a number of years, so I am quite looking forward to a very challenging season. I am expecting the tightest start to a season that we have seen for a number of years."

Whether these six World Champions will dominate proceedings at Australia, or whether it will be as unpredictable as many believe, we have only 2 days and 12 hours to wait!

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