This year’s Formula One season kick-offs this month and all of the leading teams have now revealed their 2009 challengers and it’s perhaps time to consider who is likely to deliver the goods.

Remember the last lap? Well it starts up again at the end of the month!

The new regulations:

It’s not just a question of the regular suspects carrying on where they left off last year either, as a whole raft of new regulations has meant that everyone has had to go back to the drawing board (alright Computer-Aided Design system) and start from scratch. As a result, this year’s cars look dramatically different to their predecessors, having large, wide front wings, and tall narrow rear ones. Oh, and slick tyres are back as well.

Back to the good old days with slick tyres and the like

It’s been interesting to see how the various teams’ designers have interpreted some of the new rules as well, Toyota and Williams in particular having come up with a design around the rear diffuser, which extracts air from beneath the car and helps improve downforce, which has raised a few eyebrows and had F1 insiders questioning its legality. However, the governing body, the FIA, has apparently declared the design legal so expect others to adapt theirs in a copycat fashion before the start of the season.

On a wing and a prayer - Williams have gone creative with the rules

The other major unknown is how the teams have developed their new KERS designs and whether or not they will run with them at the start of the season. KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System and is a way of harnessing the energy generated from braking and using it to help propel the car. Most teams have adopted a system using batteries but the Williams team has gone out on a limb with a small, rotating flywheel. There have already been some concerns over safety with these systems and a BMW-Sauber mechanic received a nasty electric shock from one during testing at the end of last year.

Theres a lot of chat about this little thing!

But - who’s going to win?

But back to the question in hand – who’s going to come out on top. It’s not just going to be down to who the best driver is, but how well their team has adapted to the new regulations. Well, expect reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton and McLaren to be up there. The team does get it wrong sometimes with its car design, and so far testing hasn’t gone that well with a lack of top speed. But they have the resources to bounce back. Whether his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen can up his game a bit this year remains to be seen.

The car to beat?

Hamilton’s closest challenger for the title last year was Felipe Massa and expect more of the same. Ferrari again appear to have produced a competitive car and Massa’s team-mate, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is expected to have regained his motivation which seemed to have slipped away in the second half of last season. He should certainly give Massa and Hamilton a harder time this year.

Ferrari, as we've already said, are going to be quick

Next up there’s the BMW-Sauber duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. This team curtailed development of its 2008 car, must to Kubica’s annoyance last year, in order to concentrate on this year’s model, particularly the KERS technology, so it ought to be better prepared than many of the others. Kubica won his first Grand Prix last year while Hedifeld sometimes struggled to keep up. I would expect to see Kubica stamp his authority on the team again this year and be a real challenger.

BMW could be really, really good this year

Who’s next? Oh yes, Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet at Renault. The new car is very striking but has seemed to lack straightline speed in testing, resulting in the team undertaking some intensive runs at Kemble Airfield in Gloucestershire. If they sort the car then Alonso will be challenging, if not, expect some sulks. The jury’s still out as far as Piquet’s ability to cope at the very top. He’s an accomplished driver but if he doesn’t deliver this year he’ll sink without trace.

It's one way or the other with Renault

Toyota really needs to win a race in 2009 in order to justify the massive amount it has spent on its F1 campaign over the years, so far without notable success. The new car looks good but the team is way behind on KERS development. Both Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock are capable of running at the front if they have the right machinery beneath them. Expect one of them to spring a surprise at some point in the season.

Look how clean and tidy that factory is - can’t win though, can they?

Last year Toro Rosso scored a surprise victory at the Italian GP but their star driver, Sebastian Vettel has move to sister team Red Bull. The former has the advantage of Ferrari engines while Red Bull uses Renault, which aren’t as fast, so drivers Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais (there are too many Sebastiens around here!) will have an advantage but don’t expect fireworks and I should be surprised if they score another victory.

Toro Rosso, not Red Bull!

Red Bull on the other hand has produced possibly the most innovative looking car on the grid, albeit late in the day with little time left for testing. Lead driver Mark Webber broke his leg badly in a cycling accident last year and is still recovering. It’s bound to affect him in some way, so don’t be surprised to see Vettel take the upper hand. In fact, I put Vettel down as a serious championship challenger this year.

This is Red Bull

I’d like to see Williams driver Nico Rosberg do well but I think the team will still be running in the middle of the field most of the time. Kazuki Nakajima is too erratic to deliver the goods consistently. As for the rest, Brawn with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are all cobbled together and if you go by their testing form, they could be the surprise of the year. Barrichello has been has been flying, but once the testing stops, we will see how good they actually are. Force India will be using Mercedes engines and have technical input from McLaren, so have no excuse not to move forward in some way with Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Could Williams be a contender again?

So who’s going to be champion? Pick from Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, Kubica or Vettel, depending on who’s got the best car. And we won’t know that until the Australian Grand Prix on 29 March.

Who do you think is going to win? Are you going to any races this year? Why not let us know by commenting below.