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Sunday sees the new year’s Formula 1 season in with the first race taking place in Bahrain. Here’s the complete schedule for 2010:

Michael Schumacher‘s ride for the season has been unveiled. The Mercedes Petronas RB1was unveiled in the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

The traditional Mercedes silver is incorporated along with the necessary blue colouring of the team’s main sponsor. Some very odd detailing on the front wings and an unusually long front section makes the car seem somewhat ungainly when viewed from the angle shown in the image above. The name of the car is the RB1. RB stands for Ross Brawn, the team principal.

Michael Schumacher has announced his return to Formula 1 racing, a move that will encourage me to once again follow a sport that has had very little appeal for me in the past few years. It’s not that Schumacher‘s return will change the way races are run or diminish the boredom of racing that generally isn’t. Instead, it’ll be good to have a driver to support again…

Schumacher moves from Ferrari to an all-German Mercedes-Benz for at least three seasons.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

With the first race in this year’s Formula 1 Championship to get underway this month, the sport’s governing body has implemented some significant rule changes. The rule changes do not simply govern that cars require very different technical specifications, but the allocation of points is also very different to preceding seasons.

Drivers race for points. This year, the driver who wins the most races will be the world champion, regardless of the number of points he has gathered. This should make complex calculations less necessary and lower the odds of Ecclestone potentially interfering behind the scenes. Should two drivers end up having won the same number of races, the existing scoring system for finishes during the season will be implemented. That scheme awards 10/8/6/5/4/3/2/1 points based on the finish position. Teams have successfully lobbied against the change in the points system.

From an aerodynamic point of view, very obvious aerodynamic aids, such as winglets and barge boards, have had to be removed. The rear wing is much narrower than in the past and front wings lower and wider.

The number of race engines a driver has available during a season has been restricted to only eight, and only four engines are available to the team for testing. This is a cost cutting measure. Engines may be used in any sequence, unlike last season where each engine had to be used for two races in a row. The rev limit for engines has been reduced from 19000 rpm to 18000 rpm.

This year will see the reintroduction of slick tyres with grooves. This is to shift the emphasis back to grip achieved by mechanical means rather than aerodynamic aids.

Time flies when you’re having fun. The first two months of the year passed in a flash and it’s already March. Of the year 2007, no less.

In a week, the Formula 1 Grand Prix season kicks off again. Hopefully, It’ll be a bit more watchable this year. Of late, F1 has not exactly excited me.

The championship starts in Australia, moves around the east for a while and then gravitates to Europe after a brief stint in the USA and Canada. The closing race of the season takes place in Brazil after visits to China and Japan.

Here’s the schedule for the year:

This year is interesting, as there has been a significant amount of driver change. Alonso’s performance in the McLaren will be interesting to watch. He’s the obvious likely candidate for the title but will have to trust in the reliability of his car. Ferrari have Räikkönen’s partying to put up with and both the Super Aguri and Spyker teams add new names to the mix.

This year, I’ll place my bets on Toyota.

Trulli is a driver with a fair bit of experience and there’s a Schumacher in there too I pick Trulli over the young Schumacher purely for his balanced temperament and less erratic performance. And it’s a team based in Germany.

Alonso is the world champion for a second year running with Felipe Massa having the honour of being the first Brazilian to win a home Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna. Michael Schumacher’s last race showed his determination as he tried to get back a podium finish after having dropped to last place. He almost managed that, too!

That was the season. A wait until March. Enough time to select a new driver to back…the question is: who?

Alonso capitalized on Schumacher’s engine exploding in an unfortunate display of seppuku! With only one race remaining, it looks likely that Schumacher will have to settle for second place in his very last championship stint.

Alonso needs to finish the final race in Brazil in 8th position to take the crown.

Current championship standings:

Position	Driver	Country	Team	Points
1	Fernando Alonso		Renault	126
2	Michael Schumacher		Ferrari	116
3	Felipe Massa		Ferrari	70
4	Giancarlo Fisichella		Renault	69
5	Kimi Räikkönen		McLaren-Mercedes	61
6	Jenson Button		Honda	50
7	Rubens Barrichello		Honda	28
8	Juan Pablo Montoya		McLaren-Mercedes	26

The title race is set for a showdown! Alonso’s poor choice of tyre provided Schumacher with a golden opportunity to catch up more than 20 seconds and then finish in first place. This places both drivers on 116 points in the championship. Technically, Schumacher has the lead due to his having won more races.

With only the races in Japan and Brazil to complete, Ecclestone should be pleased that viewers will be glued to the screens to watch what happens.

Jenson Button is continuing to do well, managing to finish fourth in yesterday’s race.

Current championship standings:

Position	Driver	Country	Team	Points
1	Michael Schumacher		Ferrari	116
1	Fernando Alonso		Renault	116
3	Giancarlo Fisichella		Renault	63
4	Felipe Massa		Ferrari	62
5	Kimi Räikkönen		McLaren-Mercedes	57
6	Jenson Button		Honda	45
7	Rubens Barrichello		Honda	28
8	Juan Pablo Montoya		McLaren-Mercedes	26

Alonso’s fortune did not hold. A damaged engine forced him to retire from the Italian Grand Prix, allowing Schumacher to close the gap in the championship race to a mere two points. Schumacher had to be content to hang around in second place behind Räikkönen and had the opportunity to slip into first place after staying out longer prior to his first necessary pit stop.

Robert Kubica became the first Pole to gain a podium finish in third place, behind Räikkönen in second.

A new line-up for Ferrari was announced, following confirmation of Schumacher’s retirement at the end of this season: Räikkönen and Massa will have their seats in the new 2007 Ferrari.

Three races remaining: China, Japan and Brazil. Here’s hoping that Schumacher can end a fine career as the 2006 champion!

Current championship standings:

Position	Driver	Country	Team	Points
1	Fernando Alonso		Renault	108
2	Michael Schumacher		Ferrari	106
3	Felipe Massa		Ferrari	62
4	Giancarlo Fisichella		Renault	57
4	Kimi Räikkönen		McLaren-Mercedes	57
6	Jenson Button		Honda	40
7	Juan Pablo Montoya		McLaren-Mercedes	26
8	Rubens Barrichello		Honda	25

With the Grand Prix in Monza just about ready to start, this may be Schumacher’s last race in Italy. Speculation has been rife since May that the successful racing driver may hang up his helmet to pursue a somewhat slower lifestyle. Though nothing has been confirmed, there are many rumours to make the case for an announcement. We’ll need to wait until the race is over. Hopefully, Schumacher will be able to cut down Alonso’s lead this time around!

In my opinion, Schumacher has shown what he’s made of: as the most successful F1 competitor in history, he has little left to prove. Instead of putting his life on the line every second week he should start thinking about how he’ll spend all that cash he’s earned