IF last season's Formula One Championship was a foregone conclusion even before the start of the first race, this year's competition is anything but.

It was well documented that Brawn GP were several steps ahead of the rest of the field with their controversial double diffuser car and so, though he still had to ensure he crossed the finishing line, Jenson Button was in pole position, literally, from the word go.

As heartwarming as it was to watch the 'Frome Flier' go from playboy to head boy over the course of the year, it was hardly a bolt from the blue, given the head start Ross Brawn's genius had given the team.

No, the real intrigue last season was to be found away from the circuit with journalists penning stories with more gates than One Man and His Dog. The likes of 'liegate' and 'crashgate' filled as much, if not more, column inches than the racing itself.

As interesting as these incidents were, they served only to lower the standing of the sport and give those that see it as nothing more than a few public schoolboys going round and round in a circle even more ammunition with which to fire at us fans.

Though further scandals cannot be ruled out this year, at least the focus is now back on the track.

The return of the mercurial Michael Schumacher was of course the headline grabber.

In any other sport of equal intensity, his 41 years would preclude him from consideration for any end of season accolades, but this is someone whose desire and hunger is still as obvious as when he first stepped into a Benetton all those years ago.

At the end of testing in Jerez, Spain recently, the German was outpaced by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, but points, as we are all know, are not won on the test track.

Having defected from Brawn to McLaren-Mercedes, Button finds himself teaming up with former World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

That's not the kind of thing you do if you want lead driver status, so Button should either be given credit for his bravery or be mocked for his foolishness.

Former F1 star Eddie Irvine clearly believes the latter, reckoning Button will get 'murdered' by Hamilton and saying he will live to regret his decision.

Ferrari's protracted move for Fernando Alonso could prove to be the coup of the off-season.

The Spaniard brings with him a wealth of experience and though often controversial and outspoken, his talent is undoubted.

Apparently, Alonso thought he had achieved all there was to achieve when he won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, but his father told him otherwise. "If you drive for Ferrari people will forget the championships," he informed him and that fact alone could be enough to spur him on to further greatness.

Alongside Alonso, who has turned in impressively consistent times in testing, will be a returning Felipe Massa, now fully fit following the awful crash which put paid to his season and almost his career.

He will undoubtedly have to play second fiddle to Alonso, but there are few better wingmen in the business, all of which should ensure Ferrari can consign last season's woeful record of a solitary win to the history books.

Over at Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel will be looking to avoid the errors that stalled his charge for the title last time out.

Brawn aside, the team was last year's surprise package and it will be interesting to see what they have learned in the interim.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are a whole host of drivers whose only hope of tasting champagne is if they hang out beneath the podium at the end of a race.

The presence of three new teams - Lotus, HRT and Virgin Racing - has raised concerns among the frontrunners, who fear increased potential for collisions. Not only will Hamilton and Co be lapping these cars at a rate of knots, the likes of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok are untested at this high octane level.

While it could make for good television, it undoubtedly increases the risk in what is already a highly dangerous sport.

Red Bull's Christian Horner summed up the disquiet, saying his drivers would have to just try to "stay out of their way".

In addition to the personalities, the FIA has thrown in a few curve balls to keep life interesting.

The race winner now receives 25 points, with rewards all the way down to tenth place. In addition, refuelling during races has been banned, so cars will have to be fully laden from the off. That means that pit-stops are limited solely to tyre changes, so expect cars to be in and out within three seconds.

After a slump in interest in recent years, there are high hopes that this season F1 has rediscovered the winning formula. Much will become clear when the lights go out in Bahrain tomorrow.