5 days to go: 5 things we are all looking forward to in Melbourne

The countdown is almost up, the wait is close to being over. F1 is back soon and here are five things we are excited to see In Australia.

Hamilton claimed 11 pole positions last season, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of most pole positions in the process.

There were many qualifying sessions where the eventual world champion was simply untouchable, and Hamilton has taken pole at the last four races at Albert Park.

There are four drivers who will be making their first F1 visit to Albert Park.

Toro Rosso pair Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley, Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc are all entering their first full season in F1.

Gasly and Hartley both raced for Toro Rosso at the back end of last year, so they have a slight advantage over the other two.

Albert Park is a tough circuit for a debut, so Sirotkin and Leclerc will be hoping for a positive start to their seasons and careers.

The fight for P4 looks to be hotly-contested, with Renault CTO Bob Bell saying as many as FIVE teams are in the running.

Renault, Haas and McLaren have all made positive steps since last season, whilst Toro Rosso and Force India also seem strong.

Williams cannot be written off, but an inexperienced driver line-up and poor testing results mean it could be tough for them to keep up with this pack.

Force India have claimed P4 for the last two seasons but have a tough fight on their hands to hold on to it.

After four straight titles and domination between 2010-2013, Red Bull have somewhat fallen away, only picking up race wins here and there.

However, after positive testing, there are suggestions that Red Bull are a real force to be reckoned with in 2018.

Most F1 fans will be excited at the prospect of Ricciardo and Verstappen battling it out in a consistent and competitive car, so hopefully for us Red Bull are the real deal this year.

It was Sebastian Vettel who made the perfect start to 2017, so who will take the chequered flag and put themselves in the driving seat for the world title?

It looks like being a fight between the top 3 teams; Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, so as many as six drivers could top the podium on Sunday.

It is most likely that it will be between Lewis Hamilton and Vettel, but don’t write off Valtteri Bottas or the Red Bull boys yet!

Kimi Raikkonen is more of an outside shot, however he did win here in 2013 with Lotus, from seventh on the grid.