Det er ikke lang tid før F1 sæsonen starter, men det er stadig ikke klart, hvilke hold eller drivere stå at gøre godt. F1 fans begynder at få begejstrede for den nye sæson, der sparker i midten af marts, og mens nogle af internetsteder tilsyneladende tror de ved, hvem vinde i år, historien er lidt anderledes i pit-lane. Ingen står massivt ud, siger Jenson Button. I Barcelona havde vi den ulige situation hvor Nico Rosberg sagde at Mercedes kan vinde i år, mens hans holdkammerat Lewis Hamilton sagde samme dag, at holdet ikke er klar til succes. Figur der! Ganske interessant er, at de otte dage af test, der har fundet sted i løbet af februar, på Jerez og Barcelona kredsløb i Spanien, der har været otte forskellige drivere, som har angivet de hurtigste gange hver dag. Det eneste mønster er, at otte er kommet fra fire teams: McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus og Mercedes-Benz. Red Bull Racing, som har vundet begge F1 titler for de seneste tre år, har ikke været hurtigste enhver enkelt dag i test, og holdet synes endnu ikke at være i en slags panik. Hvis man ser på listen over drivere, der har været andet hurtigste på hver af de otte dage, finder man Red Bull drivere to gange, kraft Indien to gange og endda testkører. Sammenlign denne liste til efterbehandling ordren i den Constructors Championship i 2012 og du kan se, at de samme hold rangeret første til syvende i de konstruktører titel: Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes, testkører og kraft Indien. Det er meget muligt, at vi vil finde, at intet har ændret meget når F1 cirkus slår i Melbourne til australske Grand Prix. Det kan endda være at vi har en sekvens af racer med forskellige vindere, som det skete i begyndelsen af sidste år. Centre Formel 1 har altid været lidt tilgivende kredsløb i lande, der er nødvendige for at give sporten sit globale smag. Sporene i Canada og Brasilien har meget dårlig kvalitet faciliteter i forhold til alle fancy caféer i Asien og Mellemøsten, men Bernie Ecclestones har ikke kunnet stærke arm canadierne og brasilianere ind gør et bedre job - fordi de ved, at han behov for dem så meget, som de har brug for ham. Der var et lignende problem i mange år med Monaco, før endelig Monegasques var bamboozled i bruge nogle penge. Med F1 nu ser på en vækst slutspurt i Amerika, Canada og Brasilien skal sandsynligvis buck op deres idéer. Der er stigende støj fra Mexico City om genoplivning af F1 sporet der, nu hvor der er to mexicanere i Grand Prix racing. Der er planer om også for en anden amerikanske race, er dette et i New York City (eller i hvert fald hvordan de ser på TV,) selv hvis race sporet er faktisk i New Jersey. Og der er endda mumle om Long Beach Grand Prix skifte fra IndyCar tilbage til formel 1, hvis pengene kan findes. IndyCar er ikke udarbejder det plejede at være, og mens den Grand Prix sammenslutning af Long Beach har forsøgt at afstive crowd tal ved at tilføje den amerikanske Le Mans serie, drifting og endda Robby Gordon stadion Super Trucks off-road serien til programmet, der er spørgsmål om, hvorvidt det kunne være mere vellykkede, hvis byen gravet dybt og betalt for F1. Målet med IndyCar race har længe været at udfylde byens hoteller og restauranter, og du bruger TV til at fremme Long Beach som et feriemål. F1 ville koste en masse flere penge, men det ville sprede ordet langt bredere end IndyCar kan gøre. I mellemtiden folkemusik af Montreal begynde for at regne ud, hvordan at hæve de 40 millioner dollars, som de har brug for at opgradere Circuit Gilles Villeneuve til F1 standarder. It's not long until the F1 season starts but it's still not clear which teams or drivers stand to do well. F1 fans are beginning to get excited about the new season that kicks off in the middle of March, and while some of the internet sites seem to think they know who is going to be winning this year, in the pit lane the story is rather different. No-one is massively standing out, says Jenson Button. In Barcelona we had the odd situation in which Nico Rosberg said that Mercedes can win this year, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton said on the same day that the team is not ready for success. Figure that out! What is quite interesting is that in the eight days of testing that have taken place in the course of February, at the Jerez and Barcelona circuits in Spain, there have been eight different drivers who have set the fastest times each day. The only pattern is that the eight have come from four teams: McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes-Benz. Red Bull Racing, which has won both F1 titles for the last three years, has not been quickest on any single day of testing, and yet the team does not seem to be in any sort of panic. If one looks at the list of drivers who have been second fastest on each of the eight days, one finds Red Bull drivers twice, Force India twice and even Sauber. Compare this list to the finishing order in the Constructors' Championship of 2012 and you can see that the same teams ranked first to seventh in the Constructors' title: Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes, Sauber and Force India. It is quite possible that we will find out that nothing much has changed when the F1 circus turns up in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. It might even be that we have a sequence of races with different winners, as happened at the start of last year. Stateside Formula 1 has always been rather forgiving of circuits in countries that are needed to give the sport its global flavour. The tracks in Canada and Brazil have very poor quality facilities compared to all the fancy venues in Asia and the Middle East, but Bernie Ecclestone has not been able to strong arm the Canadians and the Brazilians into doing a better job - because they know that he needs them as much as they need him. There was a similar problem for many years with Monaco before finally the Monegasques were bamboozled into spending some money. With F1 now looking at a growth spurt in the Americas, both Canada and Brazil probably need to buck up their ideas. There is increasing noise from Mexico City about the revival of the F1 track there, now that there are two Mexicans in Grand Prix racing. There are plans too for a second US race, this one being in New York City (or at least that is how it will look on TV, even if the race track is actually in New Jersey). And there is even mumbling about the Long Beach Grand Prix switching from IndyCar back to Formula 1, if the money can be found. IndyCar is not the draw it used to be, and while the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach has been trying to bolster crowd numbers by adding the American Le Mans Series, drifting and even the Robby Gordon Stadium Super Trucks off-road series to the programme, there are still questions about whether it might be more successful if the city dug deep and paid for F1. The goal of the IndyCar race has long been to fill the city's hotels and restaurants, and to use TV to promote Long Beach as a holiday destination. F1 would cost a lot more money, but it would spread the word far wider than IndyCar can do. In the meantime the folk of Montreal are scrabbling to figure out how to raise the $40 million that they need to upgrade the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to F1 standards.