Have we already found the back 4 rows of the grid?

As I'm sure you are well aware, there are 4 new teams in Formula One this season. Who those 4 teams are has yet to be confirmed with just under 2 weeks until the kick off.

The only certainty with the new teams is that old favourites Lotus will make their return to the sport after 15 years in the wilderness, and Richard Branson will have a different crack at Formula One with Virgin Racing.

The other 2 teams are supposed to be Campos and USF1 but with just 10 days to go until the cars take to the track, neither team is certain to be lining up in Bahrain.

Campos is aiming to be the first Spanish outfit on the grid but their participation has been shrouded in doubt about their car being ready in time. With nephew of the late Ayrton Senna driving for the team, there is a huge amount of pressure to make sure the car is ready on time. Despite this pressure, at the time of writing this, Bruno Senna is the only confirmed driver for the team. Even if the team do manage to get to Bahrain on time, it is very likely that the car will have been rushed to be completed and will be some way off the pace. The phrase 'baptism of fire' comes to mind.

Having said this, Campos have got it easy compared to USF1. The team is on the verge of collapse having not received the funds they were hoping for. The American outfit was originally set up by YouTube founder Chad Hurley so it's a surprise to most that the team does not have enough funds. This has to raise the question, do the team actually have the passion and desire to compete at the highest level of motorsport?

All the speculation is putting Serbian outfit Stefan GP as the natural replacements for USF1. Unlike the majority of the new teams, Stefan GP have proven that they have the funds available as they are backed by the Serbian government. The team has been releasing statement after statement saying they are ready and that they expect to be on the grid in Bahrain, whether it's as a replacement for USF1 or with their own slot. Fronted by businessman, Zoran Stefanovich, the team is using the design from Toyota's car after they pulled out of the sport. This will definitely provide a solid base as the Japanese car manufacturer produced a stable mid-field team in 2009. The team has also lined up 2 potential drivers for the first race; hapless Japanese driver Kasuki Nakajima and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve. I fully expect Stefan GP to be on the grid for the first race in the place of USF1 who will have to defer their entry for 12 months.

Of the teams that are certain to be there in the dessert, neither Lotus or Virgin look to be particularly quick or reliable.

Lotus have a stunning design on the car, but have yet to produce the pace required to compete. In just their second day of testing, former McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen crashed the car and lost valuable running time that would've been crucial to the Norfolk team. Before the crash, Kovalainen was a full 5 seconds off the pace of Willams' Rubens Barrichello. But with veteran Jarno Trulli alongside the Finn, Lotus have a promising driver line up that have the potential to get the best out of the car.

Richard Branson is having his 2nd crack at Formula One having been a major part of Brawn's success last year. Branson's company Virgin has taken over the team and the name of the original new entry, Manor GP. The team has been blighted by reliability problems in testing, with their first test being cut short by numerous amounts of front wing failures. The original pace of the team is promising, but keeping the car going on race day will be the issue. Former Toyota driver Timo Glock is certainly a coup for the team who also have rookie Lucas di Grassi.

Out of the rookie teams, I predict Stefan GP to be the most successful, should they get on the grid. If not, Lotus should have the best base to do a solid job with the reliability of all the new teams being a key feature for success.

Best of the rest or real contenders?

So apart from McLaren and Mercedes, who are the other contenders for Formula One crown in 2010?

Most would say that Ferrari are big contenders this season but you can't forget the likes of Red Bull, Renault, Williams and Sauber.

Ferrari have arguably the strongest driver line-up in 2010, and that's saying a lot with the likes of Hamilton and Button at McLaren. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are both championship front-runners in their own right for Ferrari, and like McLaren, the team will not be able to have an out-and-out number one driver. Now we all know what happens when Fernando Alonso doesn't get his own way in a team. Despite his personal dual with Lewis Hamilton in 2007, Alonso will have learned his lesson about getting on with team-mates. Put simply, if it happens again, Ferrari will not win the championship, and they simply cannot afford to have another bad season.

Putting the Alonso/Massa battle aside, Ferrari look to have a very strong car and I believe will be in the running for the championship come November. The Scuderia are in the same position as McLaren in the way that they too have had 6 to 8 months developing this car whilst other teams fight for the championship. The team will win races this season, without doubt, but the question is whether the team can have the consistency to win the championship, but I expect a very close fight with old rivals McLaren.

Last season's runners up, Red Bull will once again have step it up another gear to keep up with the more established names. 2009 was a huge success for Christian Horner's team but I feel this season may be a bit more of a struggle. The Austrian outfit took advantage of the new regulations to build an extremely fast car, but were often let down by mechanical failures at crucial times. In Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, they have one of the most exciting drivers line-ups once again and maybe more importantly, 2 drivers that know the team. Having said this, I don't expect the team to be going for anything more than 4th, 5th and 6th places.

After a winter of turmoil, Renault need to let their racing do the talking and not let all the off-track politics get in the way. But has all the doubt over their participation this season affected the development of the new car? In my opinion, there is no way that Renault can be fully prepared for the new season and will struggle for the first 5 or 6 races until they get to grips with the other teams. Robert Kubica is a quality act but even he will struggle to get this new car any higher than the top 10, and as for new driver Vitaly Petrov, I expect a baptism of fire for the Russian.

Williams have been the biggest under-achievers in Formula One since they last won the championship back in 1997. For the last 2 seasons they've had the speed in the car to compete with the middle end of the points but have found themselves languishing down in 6th or 7th in the final standings. Mechanical problems have always been a problem for Williams in the last 10 years and they just can't seem to shake these off. In 2010, they have veteran Rubens Barrichello and rookie Nico Hulkenburg in the team which should create a nice mix. Barrichello has proven in the past that he has the ability to drive at the front and to drag cars to higher positions than they truly deserve. But like Renault, I see the team in the lower-reaches of the top 10.

As part of BMW pulling out of the sport, Peter Sauber has bought back the team he used to own and renamed it. Sauber should be aiming for the points this season but like Renault, maybe affected by off-track politics. A poor season in 2009 was demoralising for the team after such success in 2008 and the team will be hoping for improvement in 2010. They do have promising young driver Kamui Kobayashi in the seat, but this will be different for him, having only raced 3 races for Toyota last season. Pedro de la Rosa will provide the experience needed but the Spaniard has never truly been driving at the front of the field so one wonders whether he is there to just provide the funds needed for the team to survive.

As for the other established teams, Force India and Toro Rosso are again expected to be in the lower 20's this season. The Indian team showed signs of drastic improvement in 2009 and are always a threat in wet conditions but lack the speed on the technical tracks. As in Spa last year, the team have excellant speed on the fast flowing tracks.

As you can see, 2010 promises to be an extremely close season and the new points system will make things very close in the mid-field.

Button vs. Hamilton vs. Schumacher

So the 2010 season is upon us and the 2 questions on everybody's lips are; can Button actually beat Hamilton? Can Michael Schumacher make a successful comeback?

To address the first of these issues, the answer is questionable. Jenson Button is the current world champion and the man they all have to beat. But this season is a new dawn for the Englishman as he has moved to the McLaren team alongside fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton. It is generally recognised that Button won the championship last year because of his stunning form at the start of the season, winning 6 of the first 7 races. Having said this, he did not win again for the rest of the season but consistency kept him in the hunt for the title. McLaren had an exceptionally poor season by their high standards last season but this could be a blessing in disguise. The team have been developing their 2010 car much longer than team's such as Mercedes (formally Brawn) or Red Bull. I expect McLaren to be a world championship winning team in 2010 and I fully expect the third British world champion in as many years. But who will this be?

For me, Lewis Hamilton is without doubt the quickest driver in the field, but can lack the consistency and the cool head when required. In my opinion, Jenson Button cannot beat Hamilton for pace when they're driving the same car, but I believe that consistency will be the key. Having said this, Hamilton is my favourite to beat Button and win the world championship and become a 2-time world champion.

Michael Schumacher is for most, the greatest driver ever to have raced a Formula One car. The German makes an astonishing comeback this season after 3 years in the wilderness. He will race for the Mercedes team that won the world championship last year and will once again team up with Ross Brawn. Brawn has masterminded all but 3 of Schumachers race victories and will doubtless be hoping to add to that tally. I do find it very ominous that the 7-time world champion is driving for the current world champions and teamed with arguably the best engineer in the pitlane.

Schumacher's fitness will come under scrutiny in the next 10 months having been involved in motorbike accident last year. Schumacher was originally due to make his comeback in 2009 to replace the injured Felipe Massa, but had to abort the plan as it was revealed that his neck would not cope with immense g-forces that he would be subjected to.

My prediction: Hamilton to win the world championship, Schumacher 3rd and Button a distant 5th.