“It will be hard to start any worse”

Sunday will see the start of what is likely to be the most unpredictable Formula 1 season of recent times. Because 2013 is shaping up to be a year when, according to the scraps of information that the pundits have been able to glean from the winter testing sessions, the 10 drivers from the five leading teams will all be in with an equal chance of winning races — and, of course, the drivers' championship itself.

In the run-up to this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, to be held at Albert Park, Melbourne, a few of those drivers spoke at Thursday's press conference, including Spain's Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver has been a close contender for the title in two of the last three years, narrowly missing out on both occasions in the very last race. This year is shaping up to be yet another opportunity for the driver to take his long-sought-after third title.

"I think I feel privileged to fight for the world championship two times in the last three years," he told reporters on Thursday. "Not many people have the opportunity to be on the podium and to enjoy the podium ceremony in Formula 1, [...] and very few people have the opportunity to fight for a world championship. So I feel lucky and privileged to have those opportunities. Sure, we lost two times in the last three years, in the last race, and we want to have the possibility once again to fight for the world championship. [...] But this is just a normal thing for the sport and this is maybe some extra motivation for me and for the team, to really have one happy result at the end."

I think the top five teams will be more consistent and there will be fewer surprises"

A year ago, and on the very same stage, Ferrari had to hang its collective head in shame after its F2012 car missed the cut for the third qualifying session, given that it was lapping 1.5 seconds slower than the fastest car (the McLaren). In the world of Formula 1, that kind of gap is an eternity. With that bad experience still fresh in his mind, the Spaniard is hopeful of being able to fight against his main rival, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, on an even playing field, something that, as Alonso pointed out several times in 2012, has not always been the case in recent years.

"I think it will not be difficult to start better than last year because it would be difficult to start any worse," he said. "We were a little bit too far behind and the winter has been much better than last year, understanding the car and working with the car and getting the results we more or less expect. That will give us much more confidence and optimism to start the season, but who knows. I think it will be a very interesting championship. [...] We need to start on the right foot and hopefully score some good points for the championship."

Ahead of the first free practice session of the weekend (which was scheduled for 12.30pm local time in Australia — 2.30am on Friday in Spain), Alonso was convinced that the equality between the top teams — i.e. his own Ferrari outfit, McLaren, reigning champions Red Bull, Mercedes and Lotus — is likely to be visible on the track.

"No one knows who can win this race at this moment," he said. "We have to wait and see for answers to some questions that winter testing doesn't answer. I think there are top teams with a little bit of advantage. Maybe it's not the same as last year where we saw seven different winners in the seven first races. It was a little bit mixed on the grid. I think this year with the consistency in the rules, I expect the five top teams to have a little advantage and not to have many, many surprises in the first races. But from these five top teams I think it's very difficult to see really after winter testing who has this extra two- or three-tenths that can make you win. At the moment I think it's very close and very difficult to choose one favorite."

In Friday's practice sessions in Melbourne, Alonso could only manage the sixth-fastest time. World champion Sebastian Vettel was the quickest in his Red Bull.