First day of Jerez Testing

The first day of testing in Jerez is over, it's been some what of a back to school feel in the paddock today and the anticipation has been building. At 9 am this morning, the V8 Formula 1 engines started up for their last season. However there were some notable absences from certain drivers. Let's take a look at the current, but not yet complete line-up for this season.
Here is the grid for 2013.
Team Drivers
Red Bull Racing 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER) 2 Mark Webber (AUS)
Ferrari 3 Fernando Alonso (ESP) 4 Felipe Massa (BRA)
McLaren Mercedes 5 Jenson Button (GBR) 6 Sergio Perez (MEX)
Lotus GP 7 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 8 Romain Grosjean (FRA)
Mercedes AMG 9 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 10 Nico Rosberg (GER)
Sauber 11 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 12 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex)
Force India 14 Paul DiResta (GBR) 15 TBC
Williams 16 Pastor Maldonado (VEN) 17 Valtteri Bottas (FIN)
Toro Rosso 18 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) 19 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Caterham 20 Charles Pic (FRA) 21 Giedo Van Der Garde (NL)
Marussia 22 TBC 23 Max Chilton (GBR)

Notes for F1 in 2013:
With some interesting driver changes this season, there could be a few surprises. Here are my drivers to watch out for this year.

Sergio Perez – McLaren.
The Facts: Total GP's. 38 Podiums. 3 Highest race finish. 2 (x2)

This is possibly the most interesting driver change this year, moving from Sauber to McLaren. After his somewhat unsteady end to last year, how will he cope under the intense pressure of a top team? Ferrari said last season that despite some great performances, he just wasn't experienced enough to race for them. Many people, myself including disagreed with that, however when his performances began to fall apart at the end of the year, we all knew that Ferrari were right. However Sergio Perez has said that he wants to learn from McLaren and his new teammate Jenson Button. Watching him develop through the coming year will be very interesting indeed.

Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes.
The Facts: Total GP's. 110 Podiums. 49 Highest race finish. 1 (x21)

After spending his entire professional motor sport career with McLaren, Lewis Hamilton has opted for a new challenge by joining Mercedes. It was a move which has surprised some and disappointed others. There are many different opinions on the move with some saying he has made a mistake. In my opinion, he simply wanted a new challenge and a fresh start. His last few years at McLaren have not been happy ones, in fact in the Jerez paddock on Monday, Lewis was quoted as saying he was happy at Mercedes. it will be a good place for him. His teammate Nico Rosberg is also a close friend. Mercedes is a team that must perform well, they are under real pressure for results and with the recent switch around in management, I think they will be a real force this season. Lewis Hamilton will push them forward in development which will be fascinating to watch.

Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber.
The Facts: Total GP's. 39 Podiums. 0 Highest race finish. 4 (x1)

Nico Hulkenberg is a driver I personally rate highly. His ability to drive a car smooth, fast and consistently is impressive. He often outdrove the Force India last season and was in with a shot at the podium on more than one occasion. Many say that moving to Sauber is a sideways move, I disagree though, I think in terms of his career it's a big step forward. The performance of the Sauber last season was good, they were unlucky not to have won at least one race. This year I think Nico will have his first podium and possibly even victory, Sauber's new car does look good, I think it will be pretty quick too. He has the skill and I believe Sauber have given him the car to get the job done. This will put him in a great position in the future to fight for the title in a top team. Nico could spring a real surprise this season.

Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
The Facts: Total GP's. 198 Podiums: 86 Highest race finish: 1 (x30)

Fernando Alonso is for me the most complete driver in Formula 1 right now. This is a man you can never discount. Having come so close to his third title last year, he will be more determined than ever to take the title in 2013. Ferrari are under extreme pressure from company president Luca Di Montezemolo, to perform at the highest standard and deliver results. They last won a title back in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, they came within touching distance of it again last year. Fernando will be pushing the team to develop and improve throughout the entirety on this year. He will not be present in Jerez for reasons we are not 100% sure of. However my guess is he's watching the progress of the car, and working on his mental and physical fitness. Watching Alonso drive the car is fascinating, his precision and accuracy in immense. This season will be a big year for the Spaniard and it will be a joy to watch him.

If your wondering why I haven't mentioned, Vettel, Button, Raikkonen and some of the new drivers to F1, fear not as I'll have a full round up at the end of the Winter tests. The 2013 Formula 1 season has begun. Follow me on Twitter @TomWilkinsonF1 #TWF1 where I'll have all the very latest F1 news and updates. You can also “like” my F1 Facebook page Tom Wilkinson F1.

I'll be looking in depth at winter testing throughout the coming weeks, and giving my views on the performance of the teams during the Winter Tests, be sure to check all my reports right here at Driving For Pleasure.