So, while I’ve been inactive, one of the biggest things taking the spotlight has been the pre-season testing taking place in Jerez, Valencia and Barcelona. This is the first and only glimpse we’ve had (and will get) of the cars side-by-side before free practice in Bahrain on the 14th of March.

And what a test it has been! At the beginning, Ferrari and their new F10 looked to have the advantage over their rivals, but McLaren seem to have (unexpectedly) closed the gap, ending both the latter two tests on top of the timesheets. Other teams shining include (BMW) Sauber and Red Bull.

All of the teams tested in at least two of these tests, apart from Campos Meta and US F1. Campos were having funding problems, thus couldn’t sufficiently pay Dallara (who are manufacturing their chassis). This has now been solved by a takeover, but they are still yet to run their car.

US F1′s situation is far more precarious, however. An apparent lack of funding seems to have stunted the team’s progress, and even Chad Hurley’s (YouTube co-founder and primary sponsor of the team) best efforts to save the team, including trying to arrange a merger with Serbian loonies Stefan GP, have failed. The team’s 60 employees have no idea what is going on, but one blamed the situation on the management. The team remain optimistic of reaching the grid, but I have no idea what will happen to them. Will the Serbian loonies get the slot they want? I’ll post on that later.

With the past two world champions at the team (both of them British, BTW), a radically-redesigned car, new-found enthusiasm and freedom from Mercedes, can Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (yes, you read that right) regain both championships this year?

No. Don’t be silly.

As much as I love McLaren and their seriously obsessive organizational obsession, they do have a magnificent history of cocking things up.

Take 2007 for example. Ron Dennis favours his favourite child, and full-of-himself Spanish guy throws a hissy fit. I don’t blame Ron, though, only wonder why he signed him in the first place. Oh yeah, and they don’t win either championship.

2008 was almost a washout too. They got rid of Ronnie, and things got a little better. Then they lied. Naughty McLaren.

The McLaren MP4-25 at a jaunty angle. Nice.

2010 looks to be much better, though. The new car looks slightly reminiscent of the Red Bull RB6 which was highly successful last year (hardly a coincidence, as all of them so far look like the RB6).

The only thing I’m worried about is that new driver they seem to have signed. Jenson Button is the current world champion, and I can’t help remembering the last time a current world champion lined up alongside Lewis Hamilton. Cough, cough.

The cover of Kaiser Chiefs' second single, "I Predict a Riot".

As the Kaiser Chiefs once said, I predict a riot. If McLaren don’t learn to control their drivers properly, they’ll eat into each others’ points and someone else will sneak through and win the world championship, someone like Schumacher, or… it kills me to think of it… A-alonso… Oh dear.

Despite what I said at the beginning, I do seriously think McLaren have a serious shot at both world championships this year – just as long as they don’t mess things up between their two drivers. And let Hamilton win. Please.

Now, I’ve always admired Michael Schumacher. He’s been my role model since I started following the sport twelve years ago. Yes, I admit it, I love Michael Schumacher.

But I’m not his chief supporter in his return stint. He has nothing to prove. He’s tarnishing his untouchable reputation and all for a couple of German Marks (or 22.5 million if reports are true).

Any sports fan acknowledges Schumi as the best Formula 1 driver that’s ever been in an open cockpit. However, at 41 years young, can he really capture his eighth world title?

Since Schumacher departed the sport in 2006, the sport has thrived on competitive racing and dramatic season finales that were more gripping than watching Law & Order UK.

In 2007, Lewis Hamilton (and his gearbox) gifted Kimi Räikkönen his maiden world championship, blowing away a second place grid slot and a four point lead to finish second place in the driver’s standings, one point behind the Finn and level on points with stroppy teammate Fernando Alonso.

If that was gripping, 2008 was off the scale. Hamilton ignored Robert Kubica’s favour of blocking Sebastian Vettel on the inside by going around the Pole (Polish person, not a random pole in the middle of a race track), leaving a gap as wide as the Severn for the ‘new Schumacher’ to stroll through. But with rain and a demented Timo Glock on dry tires, Hamilton secured the title with literally a last gasp victory. Cue scenes of celebrations everywhere, as Team Massa also thought they’d won. Ouch.

And last year wasn’t short of twists and turns either. Brawn GP’s ever-declining performance saw Christian Horner’s Red Bull duo biting away at the constructors’ and drivers’ title lead. Jenson Button finally got the praise he deserved, and moved the Playboy image to the back of the sceptics’ minds, for now.

Did Formula 1 miss Schumacher?

No. The retirement of the German giant meant the field was so competitive, that it went down to the nail-biting wire every season. If a prime Schumacher was still competing, I would place a wager on the season ending after Week 12.

Schumacher will drive alongside Nico Rosberg at Mercedes GP this season.

But it’s good to have you back, Schumi, especially with a sparkling field full of young inflated egos (and Rubens Barrichello) that have built-up their names during Schumacher’s hibernation.

With emphasis on building extremely durable neck muscles in the racing game, Schumacher, who suffered from detached cartilage in his neck following a motorbike crash, is certainly not best cut out for the job. At 41, he’s not in his physical prime racing shape of the early ‘00s, is he?

Coincidentally, Schumacher will have to deal with the infamous Bahrain 3G corner in his first race, a very demanding (massive understatement) corner that’s equal to 15 kilograms of weight pushing against your neck. It’s a track that relies heavily on precise breaking, and the winner will probably be the sharpest driver on the scene, so Schumacher stands no hope (oh my, am I going to regret saying this!)

All in all, it brings much more publicity back to the sport, not like it needs it or anything. He’ll line-up with Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, driving under the Einstein of Formula 1, Ross Brawn.

Schumacher is another reason to tune-in on March 14 for the Bahrain GP. Is he over the hill? Does he have the car to show-off his artillery? Plenty of “if” and “but” questions that will be answered over the course of the opening quarter of the calendar.

The Ferrari F10 at a jaunty angle. Nice.

The car sports an updated livery, sparked by the signing of a 5-year deal with Santander during last season. Yes, they sponsor McLaren too. Complicated stuff, this.

Ferrari only won one race last year, a far cry from the eight wins that won them the 2008 constructors’ championship, so they’ll be looking to regain their winning streak (and dignity, for that matter). And how better to do that than kicking out your world champion and replacing him with Alonso? We’ll see.

Typically, the planned first run of the F10 at Maranello (one of Ferrari’s many tracks which aren’t used to get around the testing ban, honest) had to be cancelled due to icy weather. Ferrari say they will shake it down, as it were, eventually, but the first scheduled run of the F10 will be on Monday in the Valencia test.

A sneak peek of Williams’ FW32 was revealed by autosport.com earlier on today, taken whilst filming promotional videos at Silverstone. It looks shockingly different to the FW31 of last season, sporting a raised nosecone pioneered by Red Bull last season which is expected to be widely used by the grid.

Well, I have no idea. I know who I want to win (Lewis Hamilton, obv.), but apparently they can’t award trophies based on my preference, for some strange reason. So I guess we’ll have to go through this whole season thing again…

Seriously, I’m not complaining. For multiple reasons, the 2010 season is set to be one of the most exciting yet.

Firstly, there seems to be some rumour that that Michael Schumacher bloke is back, racing for the newly-rebranded Mercedes GP team. This is of course great news for the sport, especially seeing as he’s guaranteed to be here for at least three years. He expects Mercedes to be winning races by next season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they won in 2010, especially as they’re basing their MGP W01 chassis on the highly-successful BGP 001 built by Brawn GP last season. And they have Ross Brawn. ‘Nuff said.

Secondly, Jenson Button decided to up-and-out from Brawn and strap himself into (or rather, get multiple people to strap him into) a McLaren with number 1 painted on the side. Lewis Hamilton is putting on a brave face, but he probably isn’t too happy.

Thirdly, Fernando Alonso has got his dream seat at Ferrari. It’s a shame that it came at the expense of Kimi Räikkönen, as he was such a good driver. Oh well.

So, we have arguably the three best drivers (Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher) driving for three big teams, and all with a shout for the world championship (according to the bookies at any rate, who have put them with the best odds in that order), with their teammates (Button, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg) fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. But as we all know, odds mean nothing; Alonso was supposed to win in 2007, and Räikkönen in 2008, but that didn’t happen.

For once, I’ll give you the chance to decide. Who will be the next world champion? Vote below.

I’ll write a full season preview for all teams before the season begins on the 14th of March in Bahrain.

I may also invite guest bloggers along to spice things up a bit, so if you get bored of me, keep checking back!