In five days, the 2013 Formula One season kicks off with the Rolex Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. Fans will see quite a few changes from last season, beginning with the cars: in an effort to level the playing field, certain technologies (such as blown diffusers, which routed exhaust gas to create additional downforce) will be banned by the 2013 competition rules.
That should up the number of teams running at the front of each race, meaning that the championship won’t be just a battle between Infiniti Red Bull, McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari. If we had to guess, we’d expect the Lotus F1 team and even the Mercedes AMG Petronas team to be more competitive in 2013 than in 2012.
There are plenty of driver changes to talk about as well. Lewis Hamilton vacated his seat at McLaren last year for a ride with the Mercedes team, while fast and hungry Sergio Perez takes over Hamilton’s old McLaren. Nico Hulkenberg left Force India to take Perez’s old seat at Sauber, where he’ll partner with former test driver Esteban Gutierrez. Filling Hulkenberg’s vacant Force India seat is Adrian Sutil, who returns to the sport after a year’s absence.
Japanese drive Kamui Kobayashi was left without a ride at Sauber, due primarily to lack of sponsorship money. The same issue now hangs over Williams driver Pastor Maldonado; the Venezuelan had ties to Hugo Chavez, who provided sponsorship via PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company. Following Chavez’s death, its a bit unclear if Maldonado will be able to retain the same level of sponsorship necessary to fund his ride.
It will be a blank slate on Sunday, and a whole new season awaits drivers, teams and fans alike. If you can’t be in Australia for the opening round, you can catch it on the NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus). Live coverage begins Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. Eastern.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
