F1 2019: Everything you need to know

Plenty has changed in Formula One and we run you through the key alterations ahead of the season opener in Australia.

The 2019 Formula One season is just around the corner and there is plenty at stake beyond the drivers' and constructors' titles.

The new Formula One season kicks off in Australia this week, with Lewis Hamilton chasing a sixth drivers' championship.

Here we run through the key changes, driver line-ups, dates for your diary and the best Opta facts ahead of lights out at Albert Park.

 

KEY CHANGES - The driver market was particularly active ahead of the 2019 season, with a number of high-profile moves made. Charles Leclerc heads to Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen now driving for Alfa Romeo, while Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault gives Pierre Gasly the chance to shine with Red Bull. Only Mercedes and Haas will field unchanged driver line-ups this season. - Red Bull will use Honda power for the first time, bringing it in line with junior team Toro Rosso. - Sauber is now known as Alfa Romeo, while Racing Point begins its first full season after taking over Force India last year. - Changes to how the weight of a car and driver are calculated mean heavier drivers, such as Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, will no longer be at a disadvantage. - An increase in fuel allowance from 105kg to 110kg means drivers will be able to push for longer and reduce the need to save fuel by coasting. - Drivers will wear biometric gloves that will transmit data to on-site medical staff. New helmet standards are aimed at giving extra protection to drivers' heads. - Wider and higher front and rear wings will make it easier for chasing cars to follow the driver in front of them. - The names hypersoft, ultrasoft and supersoft for tyre compounds have been scrapped. The compounds themselves remain, but on any given race weekend, teams will choose from a hard (white), medium (yellow) and soft (red) tyre - a move aimed at making strategy simpler to understand. - A chequered flag will still be waved, but the official end-of-race signal will be a chequered light panel, after the flag was waved a lap early in Canada last year.

 

Artwork shows overhead view of of all the teams’ cars on the grid for the Formula One 2018 World Championship.

 

THE DRIVERS

Mercedes  Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Valtteri Bottas (FIN)

Ferrari  Sebastian Vettel (GER) Charles Leclerc (MON)

Red Bull  Max Verstappen (NED) Pierre Gasly (FRA)

Renault   Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Nico Hulkenberg (GER)

Haas   Romain Grosjean (FRA) Kevin Magnussen (DEN)

McLaren   Carlos Sainz (ESP) Lando Norris (GBR)

Racing Point   Sergio Perez (MEX) Lance Stroll (CAN)

Alfa Romeo  Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA)

Toro Rosso    Daniil Kvyat (RUS) Alexander Albon (THA)

Williams  Robert Kubica (POL) George Russell (GBR)

 

THE CALENDAR March 17 - Australia March 31 - Bahrain April 14 - China April 28 - Azerbaijan May 12 - Spain May 26 - Monaco June 9 - Canada June 23 - France June 30 - Austria July 14 - Great Britain July 28 - Germany August 4 - Hungary September 1 - Belgium September 8 - Italy September 22 - Singapore September 29 - Russia October 13 - Japan October 27 - Mexico November 3 - USA November 17 - Brazil December 1 - UAE

 

 

KEY OPTA FACTS

- Mercedes (2014-2018) is one title away from equalling Ferrari (1999-2004) as the team with the most back-to-back F1 constructors' titles (six).

- If Mercedes GP wins 13 races in 2019, it will become the fourth team to reach 100 wins in F1.

- Sebastian Vettel has reached the podium at 24 of the 26 different grands prix he has raced (only missing out in France and Azerbaijan). If he makes the podium at those two races this year, the German will be the driver with the most podiums in different grands prix in F1 alongside Kimi Raikkonen (26).

- If Kimi Raikkonen (292) races all the grands prix this season, the Finn will surpass Fernando Alonso (312) as the driver to have raced the second most races in F1 history behind only Rubens Barrichello (323).

- Red Bull's Max Verstappen recorded 11 podiums in 2018, as many as in his whole F1 career before that.

 

Fascinating facts to get you ready for this week's season opener in Melbourne:

408  - Hamilton heads into 2019 after recording 408 points last season, more than any other driver in an F1 campaign

1,000  - Daniel Ricciardo (986) and Valtteri Bottas (963) are 14 and 37 points respectively away from being the 10th driver to reach 1000 points in F1 history.

156  - No driver in Formula 1 history has driven more races without reaching the podium than Nico Hulkenberg (156).

1  - The only Polish driver to have raced and won in F1, Robert Kubica, will return after nine years.

2  - Alexander Albon will be the second Thai driver in F1, after Prince Bira, who earned eight points between 1950 and 1954.