Benetton Renault

7 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy). Age: 28.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 74; Wins - 0; Poles - 1; Fastest Laps - 1; Points - 67. Debut: Australia, 1996. Best result: 2nd (Belgium 1997, Monaco and Canada 1998, Canada 1999, Brazil 2000). Last year: 6th (18 points).

8 Jenson Button (England). Age: 21

Grand Prix career record: Races - 17; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 12. Debut: Australia, 2000; Best result: 4th (Germany, 2000) Last year: (Williams): 8th (12 points).

Team Prospects: A curate's egg if ever there was one. A radical V10 engine from new owners Renault, the arrival of former Jordan designer Mike Gascoyne, and a driver line-up featuring two of the most talented racers on the grid looks like a dream team, but in testing the B201 has been a nightmare. Plagued by mechanical problems, the new car has frequently struggled to make it on to the circuit, but even when it did neither Giancarlo Fisichella or new signing Jenson Button could make a dent on the test times of their rivals. Team boss Flanvio Briatore has branded 2001 a transitional year in which the team will attempt to arm the right people with the right tools to mount a major assault in 2002. This may be the underrated Fisichella's last hurrah, but 2002 should see Button pushing for regular podiums.

Prediction: An uncomfortable year. Last year's fourth was an aberration caused by Jordan's troubles and the failure of BAR to build on Honda's platform. Expectations are too high and sixth would be a respectable result in the run-up to complete Renault takeover.

BAR Honda

9 Jacques Villeneuve (Canada). Age: 29.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 82; Wins - 11; Poles - 13; Fastest Laps - 9; Points - 197. Debut: Australia, 1996; First win: European (Germany, 1996). Last year: 7th (17 points).

10

Olivier Panis (France). Age: 34.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 91; Wins - 1; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 56. Debut: Brazil, 1994; First win: Monaco, 1996. Last year: Did not compete.

Team Prospects: If you can tell anything by looking at a car, then BAR's 003 looks designed specifically to cement them into mid-table mediocrity. Looks can be deceiving, however, and while Jordan's Honda-powered rival has been sluggish in testing, it has at least been rock-solid reliable. The team's trump card is, of course, Jacques Villeneuve. Whatever the merits of the car, the French-Canadian will wring every last nano-second of pace from its whining chassis. And better still, the egocentric '97 champion will be further pushed by new team-mate Olivier Panis, returning from the career-rebuilding exile of a season as McLaren's test driver.

Prediction: From the announcement last summer that Honda would supply two teams in 2001, we've been anticipating a BARJordan scrap, but Jordan already appear to have won the war with their EJ11. What is likely is regular qualifying dogfights between the Jordans and excellent qualifier Villeneuve. Given the Canadian's racing tenacity, those will be Saturday scraps Jordan will not want to lose.

Jordan Honda

11 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany). Age: 33.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 114; Wins - 3; Poles - 2; Fastest Laps - 6; Points - 153. Debut: Brazil, 1994. First win: San Marino, 1997. Last year: 9th (11 points).

12 Jarno Trulli (Italy). Age: 26.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 62; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 17. Debut: Australia, 1997. Best result: 2nd, European 1999. Last year: 10th (6 points).

Team Prospects: As last season drew to a close, I became a firm subscriber to the belief that Jordan were teetering on the brink of a very steep and slippy decline. The arrival of Honda was a massive boost, but the departure of so many key staff in such a short space of time smacked of a team in turmoil. Three months later and that opinion is utterly revised. One glimpse at the gorgeous EJ11 at a surprisingly sincere and low-key launch and a marked absence of hype spoke of a team with a new focus - getting the job done. Testing has been positive, the car is quick, as was the EJ10, but more importantly the team has added reliability (which the EJ10 most definitely lacked). There are niggling doubts over Heinz-Harald Frentzen's commitment in a crisis and Jarno Trulli's grace under pressure, but hopefully both will answer those question early on.

Prediction: Victories will be hard to come by, but don't rule out Trulli. Third, after a tough tussle with Williams.

Orange Arrows

14 Jos Verstappen (Holland). Age: 28 (29 tomorrow).

Grand Prix career record: Races - 74; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 16. Debut: Brazil, 1994. Best result: 3rd (Hungary & Belgium, 1994). Last year: 12th (5 points).

15 Enrique Bernoldi (Brazil). Age: 22.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 0; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 0. Will make debut in Australia.

Team Prospects: A brave season last year saw Tom Walkinshaw's outfit drag themselves from back row of the grid to mid-table respectability - mostly thanks to the aerodynamic input of Eghbal Hamidy and the efforts of two committed and bullish drivers. Hamidy, though, has gone to Jordan and Pedro de la Rosa was illtemperedly judged surplus to requirements. In comes the A22, a car designed to match last year's relative fleetness with reliability. That they seem to have achieved, but the result is a car that will finish but not provide any great surprises in doing so. If ever there were a case of a team cutting off its nose to spite its face, then the ditching of de la Rosa is it. In his place comes Enrique Bernoldi. The Brazilian former Sauber tester comes with a less than glittering F3000 career with Red Bull, but with a pretty hot testing reputation. Doubts also hover over the reliability of last year's Peugeot engine, redeveloped by new supplier Asia Motor Technologies.

Prediction: All of the above adds to a team attempting to consolidate the advances of 2000. Treading water.

Sauber Petronas

16 Nick Heidfeld (Germany). Age: 23.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 16; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 0. Debut: Australia, 2000. Best result: 8th, Monaco 2000. Last year: (Prost): No Points.

17 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland). Age: 21.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 0; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 0. Will make debut in Australia. Last year: Did not compete.

Team Prospects: The usually sober-suited, unadventurous Swiss outfit have suddenly come over all Jordan-like for 2001, investing all their hopes in a couple of youngsters. Nick Heidfeld comes in from the cold after a disastrous season with Prost and should get the chance to display some of the skills that convincingly won him a F3000 championship title in 1999. Bizarrely, 22-year-old Heidfeld finds himself taking on the role of experienced senior driver as Sauber hand their second seat to 21-year-old Kimi Raikkonen. The Finnish youngster has only 23 car races under his belt but has made the leap to F1 on the back of a spectacular run to the 2000 Formula Renault title.

Prediction: Sauber will, as always, be reliable and close to the front runners in the early season as they benefit by running last year's Ferrari 049 engine. However, traditional lack of development through the season will effectively curb the exuberance of both young drivers. Expect some fireworks from the drivers early on.

Jaguar Racing

18 Eddie Irvine (Ireland). Age: 35.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 112; Wins - 4; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 1; Points - 177. Debut: Japan, 1993. First win: Australia, 1999. Last year: 13th (4 points).

19 Luciano Burti (Brazil). Age: 25.

Grand Prix career record: Races - 1; Wins - 0; Poles - 0; Fastest Laps - 0; Points - 0. Debut: Austria, 2000. Best result: 11th, Austria 2000. Last year: No points.

Team Prospects: What should be the emergence of Jaguar from the ashes of a disastrous debut season is rapidly turning into another potential annus horibilis as the R2 fails to deliver on any of the promises made by Bobby Rahal at the car's launch in January. Then, the former CART boss said he hoped to achieve respectability above all, but that has already been lost as the R2 showed itself to be as lumpen a beast as it predecessor. Eddie Irvine has already publicly rubbished the team and new Jaguar CEO Niki Lauda has publicly rubbished Irvine.

The Irishman's best hope lies in new tyre supplier Michelin having the occasional stormer, which could put the troubled team in with a shout of scoring points. New team-mate Luciano Burti showed admirable qualities in his one grand prix as replacement for his team leader in Austria last year and he has regularly been quicker than Irvine in testing. Time will tell whether he has the mental fortitude to go the distance with Irvine over a whole season.

Prediction: Another difficult term for the young team. Irvine's disenchantment can only grow.