The 2015 season looks set to deliver excitement with renewed rivalry in the Mercedes camp, two world champions changing teams and the return of Honda engines.
What a difference a year makes.
And no other season in the history of Formula 1 (F1) demonstrates this better than the 2014 season which saw attention grabbing headlines every step of the 19 race season.
This time last year, we knew we were in for a very different style of Formula 1.
The most radical technical regulation shake up meant that the engineers had their hands full trying to create a high performance race machine that was capable of beating the competition.
For the average race fan, it wasn’t the shape of the new 2014 models that proved most controversial, instead it was the deafening silence of the new 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engines that became a hot talking point.
Gone were the screaming 2.4-litre engines that could rattle your bones as they screeched past at over 300kph.
Instead, earplugs were made redundant and bringing your baby to the circuit became a realistic option for the formula mummies and daddies.
The preseason headlines predicted that reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s four year championship streak would come to an end as the Renault engine suffered massive teething problems in testing.
Mercedes looked to have a mastered the new power units the best and the honour of snatching Vettel’s crown would be a toss up between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
The season got underway in Australia and the pecking order was established, but not without hiccups.
Even the invincible Mercedes suffered from technical problems that forced Lewis Hamilton to leave Melbourne without points as Rosberg chalked up the first win of the season.
But with the gloves off, it was clear where every team stood relative to their rivals and the competitiveness of their race machines would later prove to be the catalyst for even more shocking headlines.
Red Bull Racing’s newcomer, Daniel Ricciardo, stepped out of the shadows and into the limelight pretty quickly after finishing on the podium on his Red Bull Racing debut in front of an ecstatic home crowd, only to be later disqualified for a technical infringement.
The Aussie took the blow on the chin and won the hearts and respect of many fans over the course of the season as he regularly outpaced his star studded teammate and notched up three victories before the season end.
Sebastian Vettel was clearly not comfortable playing second fiddle in a team that he had secured four consecutive championships with and their lack of performance left him wide open to poachers.
Ferrari were quick to move in.
Enticing the German over to the Italian squad wasn’t the hard part, figuring out what to do with their incumbent world champions, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, proved harder!
Lucky for them, Alonso helped ease matters. After yet another disappointing start to the season, it was clear that 2014 would not be a championship challenging year for Scuderia.
Frustrated, the Spaniard put himself on the market and not a single expert would have put money on the double world champion returning to McLaren under the stewardship of Ron Dennis.
But then again, Murray Walker always warned us that “anything happens in Grand Prix racing, and it usually does”.
And so this year, Alonso returns to the team he helped expose in the 2009 “Spygate” incident, hoping that their new partnership with Honda can help him achieve another World Championship title.
The feel good headline of the season was the revival of the Williams team.
After a decade of being stuck at the rear end of the grid, one of the two entities that exist only to race, finished in the top three in the constructor’s championship thanks to their Mercedes power unit.
2014 also saw the end of the Formula 1 dream for Marrusia and Caterham as both were put into administration, concluding the demise of all new F1 entries that joined the bandwagon back in 2010 alongside HRT who made an exit two years earlier.
Formula 1 is set to start this year with just nine teams on the starting grid, the lowest since 1967.
Sadly the season ended with a heavy cloud hanging over it following Jules Bianchi’s crash into a recovery vehicle in Japan.
The Italian has been in a coma since the October incident and faces a long road to recovery ahead of him.
The silver lining is that sport has since amended its procedures to ensure that a similar incident does not occur.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with Bianchi and Michael Schumacher for that matter, as we hope they both have a successful recovery.
Perhaps the least surprising headline of them all was that Hamilton clinched the 2014 World Championship.
Given the superiority of the F1 W05, it was clear that the title would be an inter Mercedes battle.
What was more surprising was how resiliently Rosberg held his ground against Hamilton to take the championship battle down to the wire.
The German proved his pace by winning the inaugural pole position trophy however his race pace was no match for Hamilton who stormed to 11 victories compared to Nico’s five wins.
Claiming his second World Championship was a fantastic result for Lewis Hamilton whose then shocking decision to leave McLaren for the then struggling Mercedes in 2012 doesn’t seem so shocking anymore.
So how does Formula 1 follow up such an eventful season? Can the show get even better both on and off track?
Well with Vettel and Alonso in new Ferrari and McLaren livery respectfully, the return of Honda engines and the likes of fresh blood in Red Bull Racing and Williams looking to topple the dominant Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg.
I’d be surprised if the 2015 Formula 1 season didn’t have it’s fair share of attention grabbing headlines.
