The one-stop-shop explainer for the new Formula 1 season
Thursday 23 March 2017 15:42, UK
New cars and new tyres
Faster, tougher and more dramatic, F1 has undergone a major revamp over the winter with the aim of delivering faster cars and an increased challenge for drivers
Lower rear wings, wider front wings, and chunkier tyres have led to big increases in downforce and grip with increased cornering speeds already delivering lap-time improvements of four seconds compared to 2016 in pre-season testing.
With a fierce 'development war' expected in the new season, numerous lap records - which in some instances have stood for over a decade - are poised to be broken.
New drivers and line-ups...
Seven of F1's 20 seats have changed hands over the winter with Red Bull, Ferrari and Toro Rosso the only teams fielding unchanged line-ups.
There are two rookies in the field: Williams' Lance Stroll and McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne.
At 18 years of age, Canadian teenager Stroll is F1's youngest driver and arrives at the top level after winning last year's European F3 championship. Former GP2 champion Vandoorne, who turns 25 on race-day in Australia, served as McLaren's reserve driver last year and actually made a points-scoring debut as a one-off stand-in for Fernando Alonso in Bahrain last year.
…but no world champion
For the first time since Alain Prost retired at the end of 1993, the reigning world champion is not on the grid to defend his title.
Nico Rosberg's unexpected decision to quit after winning the 2016 crown has given Valtteri Bottas the chance to step up from Williams and take on Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
One fewer race and team
The F1 calendar reverts to 20 races for 2017 after Germany dropped off. The campaign begins in Australia this Sunday with Abu Dhabi again bringing the curtain down on the season on November 26.
There are now also only 10 teams again after Manor collapsed in January after years on the breadline.
New colours
F1's new era has ushered in a series of dramatic livery changes. McLaren have returned to orange for the first time since the 1970s, while Toro Rosso have swapped their long-time navy blue for a lighter shade and metallic finish.
Force India have gone pink, while Sauber and Haas are also sporting revised paint jobs for 2017.
Big name technical moves
Personnel changes for 2017 haven't been confined to the driver market with two of F1's leading technical figures signing for new teams.
After four years at the technical helm of Mercedes' world championship-winning juggernaut, Paddy Lowe has rejoined Williams to replace Pat Symonds as the team's new chief technical officer. Meanwhile, former Ferrari and Renault whiz James Allison has arrived at Mercedes as their new technical director.
Unrestricted engine development
The hybrid turbo engines remain for a fourth season but manufacturers are now free to develop them without restriction.
The unpopular 'token' system has been scrapped, but the catch is that teams can still only use four power units on each of their cars without penalty during the season. This is one less than 2016 when the regulations allowed for a fifth engine owing to a 21-race schedule.
Old engine elements cannot be retrofitted with updates, meaning teams will have to coincide major updates with scheduled engine changes to avoid penalties.
Clampdown on engine stockpiling
Remember those ludicrously high grid penalties of recent seasons? Well, in a bid to discourage teams from introducing a raft of engine elements in one go, the regulations now state that if 'a driver introduces more than one of the same power unit element which is subject to penalties, only the last element fitted may be used at subsequent events without further penalty'.
Standing starts in wet races
Even if a rain-affected race starts behind the Safety Car, the race director now has the option to line the field back up on the grid for a normal standing start once conditions have sufficiently improved, rather than initiating a rolling getaway as has hitherto been the case. That only doesn't apply if the race has been red-flagged after the initial Safety Car-controlled laps.
Watch the start of the 2017 F1 season live only on Sky Sports F1 - and in Ultra HD for the first time! Don't miss the Australian GP from March 24-26, with full coverage across TV and the Sky Sports Digital platforms. Get Sky F1 for the new season!
