F1's exciting new era begins | Hamilton, Button on first big test

A new era of Formula 1 is here - and the 2022 season starts in earnest on Wednesday with the first three-day test beginning as teams get a glimpse of where they stand in a pecking order which is currently impossible to predict.

F1's biggest-ever rules overhaul has seen the cars transformed for this year - as the sport bids to improve wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking - and they will get a first outing this week at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

Running from Wednesday morning until Friday evening, all 10 teams and all 20 drivers will take to the track, eager to see how their new cars perform and where they stand on the timesheets.

With so much change and so little time before the new campaign - there is one more three-day test in Bahrain before the first race on March 20 - this opening week of pre-season testing is more crucial than ever.

It is fair to say it has been an uneasy winter for F1, with the Abu Dhabi GP inquiry still looming over the sport for much of it and Lewis Hamilton's future seemingly unclear. But with the FIA having now made its first structural changes as a result of last season's decider and an impressively-eager Hamilton having confirmed his return - it is time to concentrate wholly on the new year and cars.

And there is plenty of excitement heading into winter testing.

The all-new cars are not just set to spice up the show, with revamped aerodynamics set to significantly help racing, they should also improve competition through the field. And with the cars having been redesigned from tip to toe, nobody, and I mean nobody, has any idea where they will stand.

"Personally, I'm not discounting any teams," insisted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "Everybody could be high up in the standings at the