And so pre-season testing is drawing to a close.

Well it must be close to the 2011 Formula One Season as Hispania have come out with very possibly the most attractive car on the grid (and more attractive than last year's Virgin racing car).

And so with one day of testing to go and the Australian Grand Prix I am going to have a look at the car and driver line-ups as they stand at this point and make as informed and potentially accurate prediction as I can make on how I think the season might go.

As it is only correct I will start with Webber and Vettel in the Red Bull RB7 Infiniti:

The car is an Adrian Neway design. So we know for sure it's fast in almost every setting, apart from perhaps the rebadged Renault engine so it is fairly obvious to me that they will be going for the championship. It looks like a similar working car to the RB6 and if that is the case, in terms of all around ability it will be very difficult, almost impossible to stop on certain tracks. And even worse news for people who dislike Red Bull, it seems to have got the whole reliability problem sorted out. Expect them to be right at the front for most of the season.

Sebastian Vettel is the reigning world champion as you all well know. And as a pattern that I have noticed on the whole in Grand Prix racing, after drivers win their first championships there is a new flair and entertainment to the champions driving style. Many people exhibited this, Alain Prost in 1986, Nelson Piquet in 1982, Alan Jones in 1981, Keke Rosberg in 1983 and even Michael Schumacher in 1995. He will hopefully become a more exciting driver to watch and prove that he is worthy of the world champion tag. If this is true it could lead to a potential problem retaining his crown. Last year he had a few messy moments of contact in the season that made winning the championship more of a struggle than it needed to be: Turkey, Spa and Silverstone to be more specific, all races he could have obtained at least podium places or potentially race victories. If he can add the flamboyancy in his driving and remove that element of petulance then I genuinely think we could be looking at a total package as a driver not seen since Schumacher in his glory days in the early 2000's.

On the other hand, I think Mark Webber will have something to prove after being tipped heavily to take the championship since he won in Spain and Monaco in consecutive races. On the whole last year he drove better than he ever has, including some great drives at Monaco, Silverstone and Turkey (until Vettel stuck his nose in). However the end to his season he spent being outclassed by Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel. This season I believe is his last chance, but it's not a realistic chance like it was in 2010 he needs to drive with all the verve and quality of former Aussie Champions Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones but eliminate the mistakes we saw in Australia, Korea and Abu Dhabi last year.

Now onto the car that has garnered the most interest into the paddock: The Mclaren Mp4/26 Mercedes.

I have only just spotted that Mclaren seem to have a policy of using a different designer ever year since Adrian Neway left in the mid 2000's. However the designer they have used to make this car appears to have got it wrong. It is loaded with reliability problems for a kick off which is something Mclaren have not had a problem with since the awfully fragile 2005 car. Then there is the car itself. Yes it will be fast on straights even without KERS of the adjustable rear wings thanks to the colossal grunt in the Mercedes engine but it seems to be a pig of a driver. I will not go as far as Martin Brundle did and call it a mess but it does not seem ready to win races or compete where driver's the caliber they have working for them deserve to be.

Lewis Hamilton is the top driver on the grid this year and I make no bones about saying that. He may be and arrogant whining ten year old boy and as such unpopular and sometimes making daft decisions but from watching every race he has ever competed in I can say no other driver has more consistently kept me on the edge of my seat bar Schumacher when I first started watching. He is, good or bad, exciting, daring and completely different to almost everyone else on the grid. He had some of his worst drives (Monza) and in my opinion his 2 best (Melbourne and Spa) last season but still kept a car that was not worthy of being in the championship race in it right until the flag in the last race. Give him a working car and he is always challenging there or there abouts.

Jenson Button is like Prost to Hamilton's Senna. He is the more mature, elder statesmen showing everyone that they do not always need to drive everywhere like a deranged lunatic to be fast. However it doesn't mean he can not do that. As I'm sure some of you know Jenson is not actually my favorite driver. While he is smooth, fast, and at points incredibly insightful, more so than Hamilton and is definitely a deserving World Champion, I have never been especially interested in watching him drive as I find his style not especially interesting. I think to become more complete is to perhaps show some of the out and out balls showed by Hamilton and begin to throw the car around a bit more, risk a bit more.

Now onto the latest Ferrari: The F150 Italia.

I could not tell you anything exciting about the car as like the Red Bull it is like an evolution of supremely balanced 2010 car and looks set to be title contender. So I won't waste your time coming up with interesting facts.

Fernando Alonso... I can't say enough bad things about my personal opinion of the man. He is arrogant, uncaring, rude and any other name I can come up with but there is no escaping the fact he was awesome at points last year and will probably go down in F1 history as one of the greats due to his pace, his bravery and his raw brain power behind the wheel. He needs to calm down his temper sometimes and really just keep quiet about things that may not go on his way and go on being one of the best drivers in the world. I see him potentially as the pre-season tip for the drivers championship.

Fillipe Massa needs to up his game or he could find himself out of the car next year. He is by no means a slow driver but he is not very consistent, slightly accident prone and often not able to keep the pace that Alonso and was the only reason that Ferrari did not come second, or even win the constructors championship. As a driver I do like him but I really do think it is time to get to the way he was driving in 08, where he was a lot better than Raikonnen then Massa can give Alonso a run for him money like he did in Bahrain, Australia and most especially Germany.

Now onto Mercedes MGP W02, and today I do believe they changed the game.

Last year's car was inconsistent. It would be the second/third fastest car at some tracks but at some it would also be no faster than Williams, Force India and Petrov's Renault and be stuck in the midfield. However this year's car has just received a massive boost. The updates the team brought today to the last Barcelona test have increased the car's pace ridiculously. Michael Schumacher topped the time sheets with a qualifying simulation. Glory Run I hear you say? Fernando Alonso did a glory run and he was 3 and half tenths of a second slower. That car has amazing one lap pace and while it's not as fast as the Ferrari or the RBR on long runs it's not too far away and at the start of the season at least, they will be taking the fight to those two and I can see it challenging throughout the season for the constructors championship.

Nico Rosberg is a talented driver. He is very fast over the single lap and has the potential to be aggressive and with the team seemingly giving him all the weird and unconventional stratergies it is very clear to me that he will spend at least the early part of the season getting high points finishes and being there or there abouts in terms of consistent points and podium places. He just needs to stop being so easy to overtake. The moves that were put on him at some points last year made him look a bit amateur and he needs to improve his defensive driving in order to truly become a contender for wins and championships.

I need not say anything about Michael Schumacher as you all know my opinion on him. He may not be as great as he was just yet but I can see him winning a race or two. And that would do just fine for his reputation in my view.

Following on from them we have Renault's (who think they are Lotus but lets ignore that) R31:

Robert Kubica is the best driver in F1 (and again, I make no bones about saying that) and looked set to bring out some real pace in that Renault. It's quite a radical design and after the first test looked one of the most sorted chassis's on the grid. However with his horrible accident I think it has dented a potential championship challenge from the lead driver. However I can see the car being good on many tracks and scoring fairly consistent points finishes with or without retirements from front runners as it also seems to be very reliable.

Nick Heidfeld is the perfect man to step in. One of the best test drivers in the business and actually a very good overtaking driver when he wants to be. He is one of most recognizable faces in the F1 paddock and is no slouch in anyway. The only problem is that he is more known for being consistent and not blistering, which I think cost him a place on the grid full time in 2010. He will get the car to be good enough piece of kit but I am not entirely sure of his ability to completely upset the form book like Kubica did last year.

Vitaly Petrov simply needs to calm down, stop crashing and drive more races like Hungary, Abu Dhabi and (most of) Turkey to show that he has the talent to not be labelled as one of F1's many failing pay-drivers.

Next would be the Williams Fw33 Cosworth:

It's looked fast in Barrichello's hands. It's quite a conservative design but then again sometimes the simplistic nature of the car might well serve it quite well. Less to go wrong. However the decision on their use of KERS could be a real game changer. Not using KERS would reduce the weight, making it potentially handle even better and be easier on it's tires and fuel consumption than practically every car on the grid and that would suit most of the track. However the problem is the Cosworth engine. It's the least powerful on the grid and with not using KERS it could potentially make the cars easy meat in an overtaking situation with a KERS using Force India or Sauber.

Rubens Barrichello is more motivated to do well than he ever has been and on top of that, has been driving largely his best since 2009 with Brawn. He is a perfect guiding light for the team needing experience in developing the car. He should have a season with points finishes, possibly even more if that Williams is somehow up to scratch.

Debutant No.1: Venezuela's Pastor Maldonado. Yes he is the GP2 champion and from what I saw of GP2 that year he is an excellent hand to hand racer. Does he deserve to be in F1? We will see over the course of the season. Did he deserve his chance at the expense of Nico Hulkenberg? In my opinion no. But then again money talks and he bring sponsorship to Williams which is vital funds to pay for wages and car development.

Next we have one of the most like-able teams on the grid. Force India with the VJM04 Mercedes.

Again, nothing much to say about the, look forward to more points finishes and some crashes, all I can say really about it. It's a progression on last years car that was like Force India's have always been: Fast in a straight line, decent in the wet in Sutil's hands and capable of handling well if they get the setup right.

Adrian Sutil has been loyal to this team since it was Spyker in 2007. He is their creation and at this current point in time, the best chance they have of getting beyond the point they are currently at. Is a really good fighting driver, who will put his all in at every opportunity. A bit like Sebastian Vettel he needs to perhaps curb a tendency to hit things as that is not only lost money from repair bills but is also, more often than not, lost chances for points and improved championship standings. That said I do genuinely think if anyone can get the Force India to a result anything like Fischella's drive at Spa 09 then it is going to be him.

Debutant No.2: Scotsman Paul Di Resta. He has quite the resume coming into this championship. He is the reigning champion of what many consider to be the world's premier touring car championship in the DTM and can lay claim to being the only driver to have World Champion Vettel as a teammate and to have beaten him (European F3 if you were wondering). He is a mighty fine racing driver and is capable of a variety of circuit types. In testing he has been almost on a par with Sutil and could well be the find of the season. However we can only know this for certain when we see him at Albert Park in the fire of the 24 car grid.

Hmmm, next we have the Sauber C30 Ferrari:

It's a pretty car, although it find itself in the same position as it did last year fighting anywhere in the midfield on any given day. Like a lot of cars it is simply an evolution of last years car. However there does appear to be an improvement in one major area: It appears to be somewhat more reliable than last years car as long as this won't follow the exact pattern followed last year where it looked good in testing but it was unreliable and slow for the entire first half of the year.

Kamui Kobayashi can sometimes be as scary and as unpredictable as having a valentines day dinner with a Lion. He can be wayward, expensive and cause a lot of accidents. But while he will need to curb that part of his game out if he wants to progress anywhere it is actually why people like and hate him in equal measure. He is aggressive, always willing to try and overtake and put on a show and he is one of the reasons I managed to convert a friend of mine who dislikes Motorsport immensely to watch F1 because I showed them Kubica's drive at the end o Signapore and Kobayashi's at the end of the European Grand Prix.

Debutant No.3: Mexico's Sergio Perez. The GP2 runner-up is a feisty racer. However he has been in the wall in testing more than anyone else. I do not know much about him in all fairness but he deserves the chance to prove that his fastest lap in practice on Thursday was no fluke and he has the talent to back up the no inconsiderable wallet.

Coming up next we have the Toro Rosso STR6 Ferrari:

The car appears to have extremely good pace on long runs. In part thanks to the relatively solid Ferrari engine and in part to what appears to be a car that is not too difficult to drive and relatively good to the Pirelli tires. It will be a midfield contender and capable of points just like all the other midfield runners.

Sebastian Buemi is not a driver I rate very highly. He does not seem to seem to have one stand out feature. He is boring to watch, doesn't look like he is pushing the car and caused a lot of crashes in lots of races. He needs to prove his talent otherwise the immensely talented reserve driver Daniel Riccardo could be in the car quicker than you can say 'Buemi has been overtaken by Petrov'.

Jaime Algersuari is one of the biggest personalities in the paddock. It's not hard to see why. He is a nice guy, a better musician than Lewis Hamilton and when he gets down to it. A mighty fine racing driver with a lot of potential to be a race winner. Yes he has not ironed out all of the kinks in his race-craft and sometimes that can make him a bit unpredictable but he has raw speed in his driving and he is learning, quite a lot thanks to his battles with Schumacher in various races but most notably Australia. Give him a car further up the grid and he will prove himself properly.

Next we have the Green Lotus T128 Renault (I know, makes it more totally stupid):

The most important development of the car is the Red Bull gear box and Renault engine. Yes it's not as powerful as the Mercedes or the Ferrari but it is quite a lot more powerful than the engine it replaces, the Cosworth and we know that the Red Bull gearbox was one of the few things that permanently worked in last years Red Bull so I have no doubt this car will be a lot faster when it comes to a race situation and I also do not doubt the team's first points will come at some point this year.

Hekki Kovalinen was one of the stars of last year for me. He was consistently the best of the new team's drivers and is quite frankly driving better than he was at Renault or Mclaren in the earlier stages of his career. I do believe in my opinion he has earned the right to be in a quicker than this as he has put in the work with the team to move forward. I look forward to see him mixing it with the rest of the midfield and at points upsetting the big boys. He might be able to do it since he is one of the best at managing tires in the grid so if he could make 1, possibly two less tire stops than some of those in front of him, look out for him the top 10.

Jarno Trulli I think should retire at the end of this year. He is a good driver and really good on the car development side and no-one can doubt he is one of the best one lap specialists since the death of Senna so I expect him to out qualifying Kovalinen more often than not. However his race craft has not been good since he nearly took Toyota to their first win in 2005. And apart from flashes of how good he can be (Japan and Brazil 09) he has lost the talent he had which made him one of the great prospects for what the world thought would be the post Schumcher era in the late 2000's.

Next we have Hispania's F111 Cosworth:

As I said the car is one of the most attractive in recent memory but it is only going to have two days of running before it takes to qualifying in Albert Park. I can't quite help but feeling it's going to be slower on some of the earlier tracks than a GP2 and no matter how good potentially the driving could be (i'll get onto that in a moment) I fully expect the car to be proping up the rear of the grid.

Narain Karthikeyan a driver I liked in 2005. He attacked everything like his life depending on it and drove some good races in that pig they call the last Jordan. He was entertaining and for that, I enjoyed him. However he was, like Kobayashi and Petrov, a bit wayward and did not do enough to earn a drive for 2006 and the start of the V8 era. After not being that successful when he drove and waiting 6 years for his second chance part of me thinks he just for sponsorship for the up and coming Indian Grand Prix, a man for the nation to get behind and create a great windfall come that weekend.

Vitantonio Liuzzi in my opinion did not do enough throughout 2010 to earn keeping a drive for this year. He was slow more often than not, crashed more than he should have done and simply could not extract enough out of the car to get Force India above Williams in the Constructors championship despite having a car I am convinced was faster. He has gone right to the back of grid and thanks to HRT's tendency to change drivers on a whim I do not see him lasting the season, be it because of talent of money.

Last and certainly not least we have the slightly renamed Marussia Virgin MVR-02 Cosworth.

The car is still famous for being designed entirely without wind tunnel in it's initial stages. It's still not as fast as the Lotus but this year they have the reliability issues which ruined their 2010 campaign under control as it can do race distances in testing. On top of that it is a team that operates very well with the budget they have unlike HRT. They are team that are a good template for all Motorsport in the future and if they keep making slow and steady steps could one day become a contender.

Timo Glock is a talent that deserves to be in a faster car than this. But to his credit he wants to be with the team building experience, speed and consistency from the ground up: A task which many drivers would not want to do because it might affect their chances of potentially joining another, potentially faster team. But Timo Glock is a very, very good driver (better than Nico Rosberg in my view) and if anyone can drag that thing kicking and screaming into a fight with the more established teams it will be him.

And last but not least Debutant No.4: Belgian Jeremone d'Ambrosio. Last year he took part in test sessions with team and was either on a par with, or faster than the outgoing Lucas Di Grassi. He is also rich, bringing the new sponsorship with the team. However I can not recall having ever seen him before so I'd need to watch the entire Australian weekend to assess what kind of a driver he could turn out to be... (after a brief look through wikipedia he was average in GP2, finishing 12 in the championship with only one podium and 1 pole position to his name (although that pole was at Spa, so not looking fantastic.)

So after that long and probably boring entry I shall leave you to your own conclusions. I know who I want to win but I also know I think will win.

See you during Melbourne.

Nick