If the last Formula One season was predictable, the build-up to this has been anything but.
Sure, Max Verstappen may run away with the championship when all 24 races are done and dusted, but the fervour around the sport feels like it has reached a peak with the stories off the track.
First came the news that Lewis Hamilton, having signed a contract extension with Mercedes last season, would be leaving the team at the end of 2024 to join Ferrari. And then came the bigger bombshell that Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner was being investigated by his employers over allegations of inappropriate behaviour by a female colleague.
The fact the Horner matter was supposedly resolved less than 24 hours before the cars come out on track for first practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix only added to the intrigue around the build-up to race one, even more so with the leaked WhatsApp messages allegedly between Horner and a female colleague which emerged late yesterday.
The racing may struggle to live up to such drama. Last season, Red Bull won all but one of the 22 races, with Verstappen taking the chequered flag in 19 of them.
Winter testing would suggest that the RB20 is quicker yet, with Adrian Newey and his technical team having extricated even more pace from the car.
It is difficult to read too much into times in winter testing but, over the course of three days, Red Bull’s pace on the long runs — effectively the equivalent of their race pace — looked ominously quick and reliable.
Many suggested the game was already up, a fourth straight world title already in the bag for Verstappen before a steering wheel had even been turned in anger.
It is hard to see how Verstappen can be derailed, only perhaps by the Horner investigation and talk of in-fighting between the power brokers of the F1 operation.
That is not to suggest the season will be dull. Verstappen is a generational talent and may yet go down as the quickest and most successful F1 driver in history, although he still has some way to go to catch the record seven world titles shared by Michael Schumacher and Hamilton.
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Even if Verstappen romps to a comfortable victory in Bahrain, it is worth relishing in his talent behind the wheel, making Sergio Perez look like an also-ran when the Mexican has proved in the past how quick he can be.
And what of Hamilton? He has made it clear he wants to end his Mercedes career on a high and that his relationship with team boss Toto Wolff is as good as ever, despite breaking the curveball news to him in the weeks leading up to the season.
Again, it is not a perfect science, but Mercedes looked far improved in winter testing, having scrapped their previous concept, which clearly was not working for the past two seasons.
The general consensus is that they finally have a proper racing car after a couple of horrors. There will be more of a sense of expectation on Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell, around whom the team is likely to be built once his senior team-mate exits. But it is unclear whether they can be the best of the rest behind Red Bull.
“For many, there will simply be a relief that the season is finally starting.”
Hamilton’s soon-to-be-home Ferrari ought to also be vying for that position. Their one-lap speed again looks rapid, but they struggled to translate that into consistent race pace last season. That said, there is a bullishness to team principal Fred Vasseur, not just because of the Hamilton coup, but because the mayhem of recent previous seasons looks to be in the past.
Aston Martin started strongly last season, with Fernando Alonso consistently on the podium, only for their charge to fade. Already, they are looking good in the desert and ought to be in the podium mix at least at this early stage of the season.
The once frontrunners of the grid, McLaren and Williams, are slowly becoming waking giants. The strides that McLaren made last season were, arguably, the most eye-catching of any on the grid, having effectively gone from rock bottom to Red Bull’s closest rivals, and in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri they have potentially the best driver pairing on the grid.
As for Williams, team principal James Vowles has done a steadying job at the helm and they defied expectations last season, Alex Albon in particular. There remains a lot of historic goodwill towards Williams, the hope being that they can continue their upward trajectory.
For many, there will simply be a relief that the season is finally starting and that talk will evaporate and instead shift to what happens on the track.
Despite all the unpredictability of the past few weeks, it could be predictability begins in earnest. For now, there is at least hope from some rival fans and teams that Red Bull and Verstappen can be beaten, but for how long?