FAST AND FURIOUS

All eyes on Melbourne as rivals look to grab Lando's crown after massive shake-up to the rules

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DANIEL Moxon looks at the main contenders as F1 prepares for the start of the new season in Melbourne tomorrow morning.

underperformance in the last rule set. As the senior driver, Russell will be the one expected to deliver. Mercedes have high hopes for teenager Kimi Antonelli who showed some brilliance in his debut season. But the consistency isn't there yet, and it would be galling for Russell if he were to be challenged by his teammate.

LANDO NORRIS

The defending champion, though Norris has not had much of the spotlight in preseason amid all the hype surrounding fellow Brit Russell. There will surely no longer be any questioning his mental strength, after he kept his cool amid intense pressure from the late-charging Max Verstappen in the final weeks of last season.

What is unclear right now is the strength of his McLaren team in this new era. Back-to-back constructors’ titles in the two most recent seasons mean nothing, given the scale of the regulation changes, and there have been suggestions that they might be starting the new year on the back foot.

Norris won the title by two points last season when his McLaren team blew away the opposition in the constructors’ championship. He will need to step up his performances again if he is to retain his title without having the dominant car under him.

MAX VERSTAPPEN