'A step into the unknown' | Sky F1's ultimate preview for 2022

The new Formula 1 2022 season is upon us, and there are countless talking points with new rules, new cars, new driver pairings and potentially a new championship battle.

The Sky Sports F1 pundits are ready - and they've had their say on some of the big topics ahead of this weekend's Bahrain GP...

Anthony Davidson: "George has shown lots of promise in a Williams and we all wondered how he was going to go when he got a chance in the Mercedes. We saw a glimpse of that in Bahrain [2020] of course when Lewis wasn't able to race and George immediately did more than I expected.

"I think by right he should be right there in terms of speed and I'm just fascinated to see how that relationship is going to evolve between himself and Lewis. It's kind of like the apprentice versus the master. I think speed wise they're both going to be very comparable, and that's exciting."

Karun Chandhok: "My gut feeling is that George will be a bigger challenge to Lewis than Valtteri Bottas was in recent times. Valtteri is a very quick driver on his day, especially in qualifying, but over the last two or three seasons it became clear on a Sunday that Lewis was just on a different level to him.

"I think George is working really hard and you can see there's an energy about him and he's hungry. He knows if he can get close to or beat Lewis Hamilton, his life is made. It's a golden opportunity. Most importantly, he knows it."

Paul Di Resta: "George is absolutely superb in qualifying, there's no doubt he'll pull laps out and surprise Lewis.

"But I think people underestimate Lewis and how relentless he is in the race. He's an absolute animal when it comes to what he can get out of the car. It also depends what Lewis' mindset is. He seems in good spirits