New races, new title rivalries and the prospect of significant history-making: Reasons to be very excited about the Formula 1 year ahead
Wednesday 22 January 2020 16:35, UK
"Unless somebody pulls a rabbit out of a hat, then I think we're set for a really exciting year between, Mercedes, Ferrari, ourselves. And it could be a real classic season."
The mouth-watering prediction made by Red Bull's Christian Horner in the closing stages of last year after the 2019 campaign finished with a competitive and unpredictable run of races.
Only two seats may have changed hands on the grid over the winter, but stability - both in terms of team personnel and F1's rules themselves - offers the prospect of an even closer battle for honours this year. Plus, 2020 offers the rather significant spectre of Lewis Hamilton chasing down F1's two greatest records…
So with just a few weeks to go until we see the new 2020 cars for the first time, and just under a month until the sport goes testing, here are nine early reasons to be very excited about the F1 year ahead…
The first confirmed car launch for 2020 is Ferrari's on February 11, before pre-season testing starts on February 19. The season-opening race in Australia is on March 15, with all 22 races live on Sky Sports F1
