Daniel Ricciardo. Photos: Steve EtheringtonDaniel Ricciardo. Photos: Steve Etherington

The F1 championship has evolved over the years and new technologies have been introduced, but with the first Grand Prix this month in Melbourne, and today in Malaysia, we are witnessing a whole new ‘silent’ revolution with new rules and regulations in place.

The cars are equipped with a new engine, 1.6 V6, turbo assisted and two hybrid motors generating more power than any conventional family car and enough for a good 33 seconds per lap. They also have a complex cooling system which has to keep temperatures under control on both hybrid engines, the harvesting unit and the batteries, plus an added intercooler that will cool the air being processed in the engine and a turbo spinning a maximum 1,250 revs per minute, even though in real terms, this spins around 1,000 rpm.

However, technology is diminishing drivers’ ability, although driving at those speeds and controlling all the electronic gizmos on board needs a lot of skill.

The fuel load has been cut drastically and could cause problems on tracks such as Silverstone, Spa and Monza.

Even though all have complained about the lack of noise excitement, the new engines are a real intricate engineering masterpiece. They are a clear indication that F1 is looking towards the interest of future road propulsion and not just racing spectacle.

Interesting too are the new revamped steering wheels of the Ferrari and Mercedes teams, which are fitted with a large screen with all the information they need.

The sound of an F1 car roaring down the straight or the sound of the downshifting as the car comes to a corner are ­there no more. Ear plugs could be a thing of the past as the only screeching sound now comes from the tyres’ skidding.

With the new regulations also came new drivers such as Kevin Magnussen, who had his first podium finish in Australia, following in his father’s footsteps. It is also the first time a Danish driver was on the podium.

Another exciting showing was the super competitive Williams Martini with Finnish driver Valterri Bottas, who produced a stunning race. Unfortunately, ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was hit at the first corner by Kamui Kobayashi in his Caterham, who said he had problems with his brakes.

The Malaysian GP today will be a totally different ball game, racing in humid conditions and on a proper race circuit, a completely different scenario and with enough open space to hear the cars.

Australian Grand Prix

Team by team analysis of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix

McLaren (Kevin Magnussen 2, Jenson Button 3)

Magnussen became the most successful F1 debutant since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 with second place after Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified for a fuel flow irregularity. The rookie, who qualified fourth, became the first Dane to mount an F1 podium, while Button finished strongly from 10th on the grid. McLaren’s first podium appearance since 2012.

Mercedes (Nico Rosberg 1, Lewis Hamilton retired)

Rosberg, starting from third on the grid, had a brilliant start to seize the lead and powered away to an easy win. Pole-sitter Hamilton was robbed of points by a misfiring cylinder that forced him to retire in his third lap.

Ferrari (Fernando Alonso 4, Kimi Raikkonen 7)

Alonso qualified fourth and ended up there after Ricciardo’s exclusion. New team mate Raikkonen, who crashed in qualifying, battled hard against reliability problems in his first race back at Maranello. He was hit at the start when Kamui Kobayashi’s Caterham slammed into Massa’s Williams.

Williams (Valtteri Bottas 5, Felipe Massa retired)

Bottas underlined his class at the start of his second season with Williams by racing hard to finish fifth after starting 15th, having been penalised five places on the grid for an unscheduled gearbox change. Massa was left fuming after his debut with his new team ended at the first corner.

Force India (Nico Hulkenberg 6, Sergio Perez 10)

Nico Hulkenberg gamely held off Raikkonen for a strong finish but Perez, who joined from McLaren, lost momentum when he had to pit after being hit by the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez at turn three.

Toro Rosso (Jean-Eric Vergne 8, Daniil Kvyat 9)

A good result for Red Bull’s feeder team, with Russian 19-year-old Kvyat becoming the youngest driver to win points on his debut. Vergne had brake problems but both were pleased to finish with points.

Sauber (Adrian Sutil 11, Esteban Gutierrez 12)

Sauber missed out on points but were pleased both drivers finished the race. Sutil had a problem with one of the car’s electric motors on his first stint.

Marussia (Max Chilton 13, Jules Bianchi unclassified)

Chilton was the last of 14 to finish after he and team mate Bianchi stalled on the grid at the start of the race. Chilton has still finished every race he has entered in F1 so far.

Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel retired, Daniel Ricciardo excluded)

Zero points from the season-opener carried on from the team’s horror winter testing. Vettel complained of engine performance problems in qualifying and retired after a handful of laps after starting 12th on the grid. Having qualified second, Ricciardo’s maiden podium in front of home fans was stripped by stewards after a fuel flow irregularity was detected.

Lotus (Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado retired)

Horror first weekend for Lotus, who arrived clearly unprepared. Grosjean retired after 44 laps, having expected to do only 15 to 20, while Maldonado managed 29. Both were plagued by reliability problems.

Caterham (Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson retired)

Japanese driver Kobayashi suffered a brake problem and ploughed into the rear of Massa’s Williams, taking both out of the race at the first corner. Ericsson managed 27 laps before suffering an oil pressure problem.

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