Four times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel (picture) hopes Ferrari can become the strongest challengers to Mercedes this season after failing to win a race last year.

Vettel, who moved from Red Bull at the end of last year, said yesterday it could take some time for it to happen, however.

“It depends how strong and dominant Mercedes will start into the season,” said the German.

“It is expected that they will be very strong. But for the pack behind them it will be very tense.”

“I hope that we are there and establish ourselves in the long term this season as the second force. That would be a huge step.”

Mercedes’ double world champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are widely expected to dominate again this year with the Briton winning 11 races and his team-mate five last season.

The ‘Silver Arrows’ have looked ominous in testing ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 15.

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso will be absent from Australia on doctors’ orders, with the Spaniard still recovering from his crash in testing in Barcelona last month.

Alonso spent three nights in hospital last week after losing control and hitting the wall in Barcelona .

“I was directly behind him but still too far away to clearly see how the accident happened. I only saw the end of it,” Vettel said.

“The crash did not look that dramatic. Obviously it was a shock to hear that he lost consciousness in the first moments and that he unfortunately suffered a concussion. But thank God it was not worse.”

What’s new in F1 in 2015

Power units

• Teams are now limited to four power units, each made up of six elements, per driver per season compared to five last year. Grid penalties will be applied if allowances are exceeded.

Manufacturers can continue to develop the power units during the season, according to a complicated system of tokens.

Double points

• Introduced as an unloved experiment in 2014, the awarding of double points for the final race has now been scrapped.

Safety car

• A ‘virtual’ safety car system has been introduced following Jules Bianchi’s horrific accident in Japan in 2014. The system will allow race control to regulate speeds remotely without deploying the actual safety car.

Looks

• The fronts of the cars look different to 2014 due to tighter regulations to lower the nose while eradicating last year’s ugly solutions. The result is that the cars, highly distinctive in 2014, now look more similar.

New faces

• Three of the drivers who will be on the Australian starting grid have not raced in F1 before.

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, 17, will become the youngest ever Formula One driver when he debuts for Toro Rosso.

His 20-year-old Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz, son of the double world rally champion, is also a new face. Brazilian Felipe Nasr will be starting for Sauber.

New seats

• Sebastian Vettel will be making his Ferrari race debut after moving from Red Bull. Fernando Alonso lines up for McLaren for the first time since he left that team at the end of 2007, although he will be absent from Australia.

Russian Daniil Kvyat makes his debut for Red Bull after graduating from Toro Rosso. Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson is now with Sauber.