Formula One rolls into Malaysia this weekend for the second round of the championship at the Sepang International Circuit, where talk surrounding the utter dominance of Mercedes will for once take a back seat to the belated arrival of Fernando Alonso.
The season-opening Australian Grand Prix bordered on the farcical as defending world champion Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two ahead of Nico Rosberg in a race where only 13 of a possible 20 cars were racing by the end of the first lap.
Mechanical failure, under-prepared cars and injury accounted for most of the withdrawals but Fernando Alonso was unable to even make the trip to Melbourne following a pre-season crash at Barcelona last month on his return to McLaren.
Sitting out the race in order to minimise the chance of suffering sudden-impact syndrome, Alonso will be keen to get re-acquainted with a team where he spent an unhappy season in 2007 but judging by McLaren’s performance in Australia, any joy is expected to be short-lived.
Struggling for pace with the new Honda engine, McLaren team-mate Jenson Button crossed the line last of the 11 finishers, while Alonso’s stand-in Kevin Magnussen failed to start the race due to engine issues.
The Spaniard will be hoping the team have been able to make significant improvements since Australia two weeks ago and can at least make the car competitive enough to keep pace with the back-markers, something that was out of reach in Melbourne.
Turning to his recovery from the pre-season crash, Alonso will need to pass a fitness test today before he can race but is looking forward to marking his return at a circuit he has enjoyed a fair amount of success, including three victories.
“I’ve been working hard on my fitness and I feel good and ready to go this weekend,” he said.
Up at the head of the field, Mercedes are once again expected to surge clear from the chasing pack with Hamilton and Rosberg continuing the battle for supremacy while the other teams scramble around for minor honours.
Sebastian Vettel’s distant third place finish on his Ferrari debut was an encouraging start for a team seeking to re-establish itself among the elites but the Italian outfit can expect a tougher challenge from Williams in Malaysia.
The Mercedes-powered team lost Valtteri Bottas to injury following qualifying in Australia and the Finn and team-mate Felipe Massa can expect a better performance from the Williams around the sweeping corners of the Hermann Tilke-designed track.
In a week when the sport suffered another blow with the dropping of the German Grand Prix from this season’s calendar for financial reasons, anything other than a Mercedes victory would be a welcome lift for a series in which monotony has replaced drama.
The chances of that happening remain slim, however, but Malaysia’s volatile weather could intervene as it did in 2012 when Alonso dodged the puddles in a modest Ferrari to win the race after qualifying ninth.
Formula One statistics
• Lewis Hamilton’s win in the Australian season-opener was the double world champion’s 34th in Formula One, and second in a row after last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender. The Briton is fifth on the all-time list of winners.
• The last time Lewis Hamilton won in Australia, in 2008, he also ended the year as champion.
• Mercedes have now won the last eight races. They have also chalked up 12 one-two finishes in 20 races.
• Of other current drivers, Sebastian Vettel has 39 career wins, Fernando Alonso 32, Kimi Raikkonen 20 and Jenson Button 15.
• Ferrari have won 221 races, McLaren 182, Williams 114 and Red Bull 50. Mercedes have won 30.
• McLaren have not won for 39 races, a run that dates back to Brazil 2012. They went 48 races without a win from 1993-97.