The Red Bull driver takes you around his home GP circuit in a track simulator. Video: Red Bull / YouTube

HERE'S your full guide to every team and driver on the Formula 1 grid ahead of the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.

INFINITI RED BULL RACING

Infiniti Red Bull Racing achieved its triple-double last year: three consecutive world drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

However, while 2011 was a Red Bull whitewash — 12 wins, 18 poles and 153 points more than nearest rival McLaren — 2012 was a lot tougher.

It took until Bahrain for Sebastian Vettel to take the team’s first win. Mark Webber followed with victory in Monaco and Britain; however Vettel’s four straight wins in Singapore, Japan, Korea and India gave the German the edge in the title fight.

With the technical regulations staying relatively stable, Infiniti Red Bull Racing will be the benchmark for the rest of the grid.

#1 Sebastian Vettel

At just 25, Sebastian Vettel is one of only three drivers in the history of Formula One to have secured three consecutive World Drivers’ Championships.

Blisteringly quick and a tough competitor on-track, Vettel worked harder than ever in 2012 — and retained his world title by just three points after a stunning drive from the back at the final round in Brazil.

He returns for 2013 as the firm favourite for the title, but will likely have a serious challenge on his hands from Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, Jenson Button at McLaren and Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus. It’s definitely game on from round one in Melbourne.

#2 Mark Webber

Mark Webber will be hoping for a stronger campaign in 2013.

Though the Australian began his season last year with four consecutive fourth places and took two dominant victories in Monaco and Britain, 18 points scored from the following six races destroyed his chances of challenging for the title.

He’s undeniably quick, a fighter on-track, capable of world-class victories and respected in the paddock. It was no surprise, therefore, that Ferrari tried to sign him for 2013, before the Australian decided to stay on at Red Bull.

To be in the mix this year, Webber needs to consistently score well — and not suffer from KERS failures, as was too often the case in 2012.

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SCUDERIA FERRARI

Slow starts to the season have proved to be Ferrari’s undoing in the last two years, and Stefano Domenicali knows that has to change in 2013 if the famed Italian team is to halt the irresistible run of momentum built up by Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

Alonso’s efforts to haul a car that was over a second a lap off the pace in pre-season testing to a 40-point championship lead by the mid-year break were extraordinary, but with qualifying pace a season-long Achilles heel, even the Spaniard was powerless against Vettel’s late-season charge.

Some overdue success in Melbourne would get things off on the right foot.

#3 Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso might have produced his most amazing trick yet by staying in the championship fight until the final lap of the final race of last season in Brazil.

In the initially ill-handling F2012, Alonso maximised every opportunity to win three races in the opening half of the season, and his uncompromising approach saw him repeatedly drag the car into positions it had no business being in.

The 31-year-old is remarkably consistent in Australia — he’s been in the top-five in each of the last nine years. He’ll be looking to start his season as strongly as possible.

#4 Felipe Massa

Formula One drivers can be as insecure as anyone, and Felipe Massa admitted as much last December after a season that saw his contract renewed for an eighth straight season with the Scuderia when all signs pointed towards him losing his drive.

A much-needed podium at Suzuka proved to be the boost Massa needed, after which his speed picked up to the extent that he out-qualified Alonso in the final two races.

The Brazilian’s third here in 2010 is his sole result of note at Albert Park, while a late-race clash with Bruno Senna’s Williams FW34 as the pair scrapped over 13th place was the end of a wretched weekend last year.

SEE HOW A FERRARI F1 CAR HAS DEVELOPED OVER SEVEN SEASONS IN THE GRAPHIC BELOW



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VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES

McLaren will be fascinating to watch this season. They had the fastest car at certain points in 2012 with eight pole positions and seven wins, but failed to win the title with it due to reliability and operational issues.

This year, with Lewis Hamilton having moved on to Mercedes, Jenson Button leads the team but can he qualify consistently? And will the pressure prove to be too much for 23-year-old Sergio Pérez?

One clear advantage for McLaren is that they can take Button’s lead on development; but they are sure to miss Hamilton’s incredible speed, particularly in qualifying.

#5 Jenson Button

Now entering his 13th season as a Formula One driver, Jenson Button has his best chance since his championship year (2009) of winning the world title.

With the full resources of McLaren behind him and a relatively inexperienced teammate, Button should hit the ground running in Melbourne and challenge the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers this season for the title.

Button showed in 2012 that he has the quality to win all kinds of races, wet or dry, and he ended the season on a high note with a splendid victory in Brazil. But his weakness throughout his career has been qualifying consistently at the front.

#6 Sergio Perez

Sergio Pérez joined the sport in 2011, after being championship runner-up to Pastor Maldonado in F1’s official feeder series GP2 in 2010. Going into only his third season, the young Mexican now has the chance of a lifetime in the form of a top-line drive.

Thanks to a string of podium results with the Sauber team in 2012 and the financial backing of the world’s richest man, telecoms mogul Carlos Slim, Pérez has hit the big time with a chance to fight for victories.

The pressure will certainly be on him right from the start of his career at the Woking-based team. The squad see him very much as a work in progress.

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LOTUS F1 TEAM

The black and gold livery that brought back memories of the most recent glory days for the Lotus name turned heads when it was first implemented in 2011, but it wasn’t until last year that the Enstone-based team started performing like a front-running team rather than simply looking like one.

After scoring just 73 points in 2011, Lotus amassed more than four times as many last year — taking 10 podiums and a win for Kimi Räikkönen in Abu Dhabi.

Team principal Eric Boullier admitted Räikkönen’s victory was a relief, and it certainly bucked the trend of the second half of the year as eight of those 10 podiums came before the mid-season break in August.

#7 Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen’s win at Abu Dhabi last year was the Finn at his opportunistically brilliant best, blasting past a slow-starting Mark Webber off the line and being there to capitalise on the retirement of race leader Lewis Hamilton.

His radio chat with engineer Simon Rennie during the race — “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” — was the line of the season, and Räikkönen had 500 t-shirts displaying his message made and then given to all of Lotus’ staff at its Enstone base.

The ‘Iceman’, now 33, was the only driver to complete all 20 races last season, and seven podiums in his comeback year ensured he would finish third in the drivers’ standings.

#8 Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean’s performance at Albert Park last year was a sign of things to come; after qualifying a brilliant third, he was out on lap two after contact with the Williams of Pastor Maldonado.

By season’s end, Grosjean had been involved in various incidents in the opening laps of eight races, most controversially at Spa in Belgium after contact with Lewis Hamilton caused a multi-car accident at the first corner.

For all of that, Grosjean’s pace can be electrifying, and three podium finishes proved that he has a future in the sport. Walking the line between aggression and discretion will determine just how long that future lasts.

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MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 TEAM

Mercedes needs a better year in 2013. Since taking over the team, Mercedes has not managed to emulate the feats of Brawn GP, which won the 2009 world championships with Jenson Button.

Over the winter, Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug left the company after over 20 years, citing disappointing results. One victory in three years and fifth in the constructors’ table wasn’t enough.

Michael Schumacher’s three-year comeback plan did not work out and he has gone — replaced by Lewis Hamilton. The pressure is on Mercedes to provide him with a strong car. Nico Rosberg is back for his fourth season with the team.

#9 Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg knows that this year he faces a far sterner challenge from Hamilton than he got from his former teammate — seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

The statistics tell the story: Rosberg beat Schumacher in qualifying 41 to 17 during their three seasons together and scored 324 points to Schumacher’s 197. But Schumacher was the more unlucky driver in terms of reliability.

Rosberg is a strong qualifier, who tends to get the best out of the car in the final qualifying session, but the Mercedes needs to improve on tyre wear from last year as that was its Achilles heel in races.

#10 Lewis Hamilton

The 2008 world champion is taking the gamble of a lifetime, having left McLaren for the works Mercedes squad.

The McLaren was the fastest car at the end of the 2012 season with seven wins overall, including the final two rounds in Austin and São Paulo; while the Mercedes was barely in the top five on pure pace with just a single pole position and win in China.

But after 13 years with McLaren, where he amassed an impressive 21 wins and 26 pole positions, Hamilton wanted a fresh challenge.

Hamilton is a sensational qualifier and will undoubtedly extract the maximum from the car; and he showed in 2012 that he had matured as a sportsman.

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SAUBER F1 TEAM

Swiss squad Sauber typically goes about its business with a minimum of fanfare and fuss, but continually found itself in the headlines in 2012 in its most competitive season in 16 years as an independent constructor.

A double-points finish at round one in Melbourne was a sign of things to come; while Sergio Pérez nearly caused the upset of the year by finishing second in Malaysia, the chance for victory lost when he ran wide while catching Fernando Alonso.

Two more podiums for Pérez and one for Kamui Kobayashi saw the team enjoy a standout campaign, but it could have been even better. It enters 2013 with an all-new driver line-up.

#11 Nico Hülkenberg

Australia has been a disaster for Nico Hülkenberg on his two previous visits. In his first outing back in 2010, the German’s Williams was taken out by Kamui Kobayashi at turn six on the first lap; while last year, Hülkenberg clashed with Mark Webber at the first corner.

The 2009 GP2 champion is joining his third team in as many racing seasons in 2013, and will be hoping to build on five points-scoring finishes in the final six races last year.

There will be plenty of people keeping an eye on what he can do in the Ferrari-powered C32 chassis.

#12 Esteban Gutiérrez

The Albert Park 2013 season-opener will finally be the young Mexican’s debut race after two near-misses.

When Sauber’s Sergio Pérez was forced to withdraw from the Canadian GP in 2011, Gutiérrez could have replaced him but wouldn’t have been able to make it from Mexico to Montreal in time. The 21-year-old then substituted for an unwell Pérez in Friday practice in India last season.

Gutiérrez clinched the inaugural GP3 title in 2010 and then won three GP2 races last season, but the Paris resident is refreshingly realistic about his prospects for his rookie F1 campaign: “It doesn’t make sense to say I am 100 per cent ready; it is difficult to say or judge right now.”

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SAHARA FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM

Sahara Force India will be worth watching at the start of this season as they ended last season strongly, with Nico Hülkenberg even challenging the McLarens for the win at the final round in Brazil.

One of the keys to their competitiveness is that they buy in the engine from Mercedes and the gearbox and hydraulics from McLaren — this ensures a reliable and high-performing drivetrain as the basis of the car.

Aerodynamically the cars tend to be very good on the straights. Last year Hülkenberg managed to qualify in the top 10 in Melbourne.

#14 Paul di Resta

Paul di Resta has something to prove this year. He was pushing hard last season for a seat with a top team, but was passed over as McLaren took young Mexican driver Sergio Pérez while Lewis Hamilton replaced retiring world champion Michael Schumacher at Mercedes.

In the second half of the 2012 season, the Scot was outperformed by Nico Hülkenberg and he’ll want to start his third full F1 season on the front foot.

Di Resta achieved his best result t -date last year in Singapore with fourth place, after qualifying sixth. He’ll be hoping to go one place better in 2013, with a podium.

#15 Adrian Sutil

Adrian Sutil was finally confirmed to be Paul di Resta’s teammate at the final pre-season test in Barcelona.

Effectively the most sought-after seat for 2013, pre-season talk of Nico Hülkenberg’s replacement focused on Sutil, who left the British-based Indian team at the end of 2011, and their test and reserve driver Jules Bianchi who drove in nine practice sessions for the outfit in 2012.

Though the German was convicted of grievous bodily harm in 2012 after a nightclub incident in Shanghai in 2011, he is what the team needs – a solid performer with a good points-to-starts ratio. This will be Sutil’s fifth season with the squad, his sixth in Formula One.

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WILLIAMS F1 TEAM

Pastor Maldonado’s maiden victory in Spain last year was the first for the team since the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix and came after Sir Frank Williams’ eponymous outfit scored just five points in 2011.

While Maldonado’s win was earned on merit, neither he nor his teammate Bruno Senna could get close to the podium for the rest of the season, with Barcelona accounting for almost one-third of the team’s points haul as it finished eighth in the world constructors’ championship.

While that was an improvement of one place over 2011, it was a disappointing result overall, and Sir Frank conceded the team “should have done better with the equipment we had”.

#16 Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado was already a national hero in his native Venezuela even before taking his first F1 victory in Barcelona last year.

Maldonado’s speed has never been in question — you certainly don’t win a GP2 title and make it to motorsport’s top-class on funding from Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA alone — but his season last year was marred by 10 penalties, twice as many as any other driver on the grid.

His erratic career to date suggests he’s likely to remain the biggest wildcard in this year’s field — one who has the pace to upset the established order.

#17 Valtteri Bottas

News of Bottas’ promotion came as little surprise after he appeared in 15 Friday practice sessions for Williams a year ago, and will be a welcome relief to the Finn, who admitted that sitting out of all racing last year was difficult after winning the GP3 crown in 2011.

Toto Wolff, who doubles as Bottas’ manager, believes the unusually talkative Finn won’t be overawed by the step up. “He is a relaxed driver, always was, so it won’t affect him a lot,” Wolff said.

However, as the hottest rookie prospect for 2013, all eyes will be watching how he measures up to Maldonado.

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SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

Scuderia Toro Rosso is essentially a Red Bull junior team, which exists to test young drivers to see if they are good enough to graduate to Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

The management has proved ruthless in the past so this is an important year for Jean-Éric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. The team’s weakness last year was qualifying speed and it was always a struggle to get into Q2.

The Italian team will expect a machine capable of scoring points regularly. Former Sauber and Sahara Force India technical director James Key joined the squad late last year to extract maximum performance from the squad’s limited resources.

#18 Jean-Eric Vergne

Arriving in his second season in F1, the 22-year-old Frenchman still has a lot to prove in the sport. He was tipped for big things ahead of his debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso last year but struggled to find consistency.

It’s in qualifying that Vergne needs to improve. All too often, he missed out on a spot in Q2, which hampered his race strategy. However, in the races Vergne has looked strong and demonstrated his ability to cut through the field.

Some say that his poor results are because of overdriving the car so if he can remedy that and be buoyed by the fact that the team have retained him, Vergne could deliver on his perceived potential.

#19 Daniel Ricciardo

Last year, Daniel Ricciardo showed flashes of good form, but he also struggled for consistency.

Ricciardo generally had the better of his teammate Vergne on Saturdays, outqualifying him an impressive 14 times in 20 races. However, in the points battle he scored just 10 points to Vergne’s 16.

If James Key and his technical team can produce a quicker car that is capable of scoring points regularly, Ricciardo will be expected to make the most of it and outscore his French teammate.

If he succeeds, a seat at Infiniti Red Bull, when Webber decides to retire, is a real possibility. Failure, though, could mean the end of his career.

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CATERHAM F1 TEAM

Last season was supposed to be the one where the Caterham team improved from the back of the grid to join the lower midfield, but it didn’t happen.

Given last year was the first time that Caterham used KERS and was running the same Renault engines as the title-winning Infiniti Red Bull Racing outfit, 10th place was a disappointment.

At the top, Cyril Abiteboul has recently replaced Tony Fernandes as team principal, and while the former managing director of Renault Sport isn’t about to make any bold predictions for this season, he’s adamant that the fourth-year outfit needs to start taking strides forward.

#20 Charles Pic

French rookie Charles Pic found himself in a stressful situation in Brazil last year.

Five laps from home, the Marussia driver was passed by Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov for 12th place, which became 11th after a late-race crash by Sahara Force India’s Paul di Resta — a result that ensured Caterham, not Marussia, would take 10th place in the constructors’ championship and grab an all-important share of the TV revenue for teams finishing inside the top 10.

Over the course of the year, the 23-year-old did what both Lucas di Grassi and Jérôme d’Ambrosio — Timo Glock’s 2010-11 teammates — couldn’t by demonstrating sufficient promise to earn a second year in the top flight.

#21 Giedo van der Garde

Giedo van der Garde’s four year stint in GP2 finished with a bang — he won the final sprint race of the 2012 season in Singapore from pole position — but a best finish of fifth in the championship in 2011 was less than he and those keeping a keen eye on him would have wanted.

Van der Garde steps up from his reserve driver role with Caterham last year, where he participated in Friday practice on no less than six occasions, and is the first Dutchman on the F1 grid since Christijan Albers drove for the Spyker team in 2007.

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MARUSSIA F1 TEAM

This season could be a breakthrough year for Marussia - they have a new technical structure that includes former Renault director of engineering Pat Symonds. The team will also crucially have KERS for the first time, too, which will provide an extra three tenths of a second per lap.

British rookie Max Chilton has been promoted up to a race seat and should impress with his qualifying speed; while French young gun Jules Bianchi was a late replacement for Luiz Razia, whose seat fell through after one of his sponsors failed to pay.

If Marussia are able to create a reliable car, the team could move up the grid.

#22 Jules Bianchi

Bianchi replaced Luiz Razia during the final pre-season test in Barcelona after one of the Brazilian’s sponsors failed to provide the required funds. \

Prior to landing the drive at Marussia, Bianchi was thought highly likely to land the second seat at Sahara Force India alongside Scottish driver Paul di Resta – but in the end it went to the more experienced Adrian Sutil.

The young Frenchman is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and last year took part in nine Friday practice sessions as Sahara Force India’s test and reserve driver.

A potential future star, Bianchi needs to assert himself at Marussia – and prove he’s faster than teammate Chilton, whose qualifying pace in GP2 last year was very strong.

#23 Max Chilton

Chilton was promoted to the race seat after showing good speed during Friday practice in Abu Dhabi.

There were a number of more experienced candidates in the running, but the Brit is understood to have impressed the team with his quality of feedback, raw pace and ability to set the car up well.

In GP2, Chilton’s performances in qualifying have also been impressive, while his two victories last season in the feature races show he’s got the race craft. If he can deal with the pressure and replicate that kind of pace in F1, his future will be assured.

- Profiles by Stewart Bell, Matthew Clayton and James Allen

These edited profiles first appeared in the 2013 Formula 1® Rolex Australian Grand Prix Official Program. For the full profile, grab your copy for $15 at the event, from selected newsagents and the Herald Sun Shop