F1 is back: Epic new showdowns await Bahrain GP opener

New cars. New rules. New driver line-ups. And potentially an all-new pecking order, with all-new rivalries. Formula 1 is back this weekend - and it all starts with a Bahrain GP where simply anything could happen.

Three months after an epic 2021 season ended in hugely-controversial circumstances as Max Verstappen ousted Lewis Hamilton for the title, the sport's grid of star drivers and teams are gearing up for the first of a planned 23 race weekends this year, all live on Sky Sports F1.

We will have build-up right through the week before covering all the action live from the Bahrain International Circuit, from Friday's first practice session through to Sunday's season-opening Grand Prix.

A new era starts here. F1, at long last, is back.

It is fair to say a lot has changed since that Abu Dhabi chequered flag.

F1 has embarked on a revolutionary new era with a rules overhaul leading to much-changed cars, aimed at spicing up the on-track action and improving overtaking. And the early signs are that they will also rip up the form book.

Mercedes, F1's world champions for the last eight years and the team who marched ahead of the pack following the last major regulation change, appear to have slipped slightly behind at the start of 2022, with both Red Bull and Ferrari seemingly usurping them at the two three-day tests.

Red Bull, in particular, came on strong at the end of the final Bahrain test to suggest Verstappen has a strong chance of retaining his maiden drivers' crown, although - while Hamilton has pessimistically suggested his team are "not in contention" - the intense rivalry between F1's biggest stars is certainly expected to return given the bad blood of last year.

Hamilton is joined by a new team-mate in George