Formula 1: Everything you need to know for the 2018 Australian Grand Prix

The 2018 Formula 1 season kicks in Australia. Here is your guide to all the speculation surrounding the top three teams and their drivers.

Race fans everywhere are getting prepared for the start of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, and this guide to the top three Formula One teams and their drivers has all the information you will need to get into the action.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Toto Wolff has stated that Red Bull Racing may have the fastest car “at the moment”. Even with that news, the Mercedes W09 is still listed as the favorite among most, including us.

Lewis Hamilton

The four-time world champion hasn’t signed a new contract with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport yet. There is speculation that the deal will be done soon, which could set Lewis up for the next three years with the Petronas-backed team, netting him somewhere in the £120 million range. He is on top of his game and is looking to crush his opponents this year.

Valtteri Bottas

After a one-year extension that will keep Bottas alongside Lewis Hamilton this season, the Finn will have his hands full, as he only grabbed three wins last season. Look for him to be very hungry for wins, as he wishes to stay at Mercedes with a longer deal.

Scuderia Ferrari

Disagreeing with the new owners of Formula 1, Ferrari have threatened to quit the sport and Mercedes have lent credibility to the notion. The Italian team also has the top spot from testing, which always gives a competitive edge before the cars are race-tested.

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel had a great battle with Lewis Hamilton for the 2017 championship, and he ended up in second place overall. He has stated that Mercedes were favorites, but let’s not forget, Ferrari looked really good in testing and a have a true chance at winning the championship.

Kimi Raikkonen

Raikkonen held the outright fastest lap in testing at the Catalunya circuit in Spain, and he stated that Ferrari could have gone even faster. This may be a sort of rejuvenation for the Finn, which makes him another force to keep an eye on.

Red Bull Racing

With upgrades coming at the first race, Red Bull Racing have closed the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari. Couple that with two young drivers that mean business, and you have race-winning potential. After their sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, partnered with Honda this season, Red Bull have declared that Honda should be able to catch Renault power-wise by the last race in Abu Dhabi. That statement has added to the belief that Red Bull may switch to Honda for 2019.

Daniel Ricciardo

As the only Australian driver in the field, Ricciardo has the honor of his home race being the season opener. In recent statements, the 28-year-old has asked for a competitive car from the Red Bull team, and he would rather crash trying to win than not try to win.

Max Verstappen

Recently, Verstappen was called a future world champion by Lewis Hamilton. As he has shown us in the past, he is a natural on the track, are there are no doubts in anyone’s mind as to how fast he can go.

Next: Looking back at Lewis Hamilton's record-setting accomplishment

Any way you perceive the information, one thing is for sure. The season opener in Australia is guaranteed to be an amazing race full of excitement. If Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel goes on to win the Formula 1 championship, it would put them on the level of the great Juan Manuel Fangio with five titles, second to only Michael Schumacher. That amounts to history in the making! Of course, history will be made this season regardless with the addition of the halo, and the passing of true open-cockpit formula racing as we have always known it.

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