2008 F1 season - your complete guide

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The British racers

Lewis Hamilton is Britain’s best hope for an F1 championship victory since Damon Hill won the title in 1996.

Having lost the title in the final round by a single point last year, Hamilton is determined to make amends.

He said: “The targets for the team and for myself are to win as many races as possible, improve on my performance from last year, finish all the races and for the team it is to win the constructors' championship as well.”

He said he expects an easier season than his rookie year: "Now I know what to expect, I know about my preparations so I am storing energy. To some people it might appear that I am quieter or something along those lines, but I am saving all this energy for the first race, and I cannot wait to get out there."

At the other end of the grid Jenson Button faces another trying year with Honda, who are finding their way after a disastrous 2007. With Michael Schumacher’s former race strategist Ross Brawn fighting his corner, Button expects to get back to the sharp end, but not until next year.

David Coulthard is now one of F1’s most experienced drivers and heads into his fourth year with Red Bull. The team have impressed in testing with their Renault-powered RB4 and Coulthard should be fighting to score points at every round.

But Anthony Davidson doesn’t even know if he’ll be on the grid yet. His Super Aguri team is in dire financial trouble and may not even make the first race.

The teams

Ferrari and McLaren won every race between them last year. They have led the way in testing for the new season and look comfortably quicker than their rivals.

BMW ended last year third and have a radical new car which they hope will bring them their first ever win.

Hamilton’s former team mate Fernando Alonso has returned to Renault, who he won the championship for in 2005 and 2006. But the team had a poor 2007 and the Spanish driver has said even finishing in the top three will be a challenge this year.

British team Williams have been the surprise of testing with some particularly impressive times by Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 champion Keke. The team that claimed a string of titles in the 1990s haven’t won a race since 2004.

All the teams have to contend with one major and hotly-anticipated rules change for 2008: the banning of traction control. The computer-controlled systems for reducing wheelspin have been outlawed, and the drivers now have to do more work. There have been many more spins in testing as a result.

The tracks

The season kicks off on the streets of Melbourne as usual – and two exciting new street tracks have been added to the calendar this year.

The first in Valencia, Spain blasts around the port used for the America’s Cup and looks quick and tricky. Later in the year the teams will visit Singapore for the first time – for F1’s first ever floodlit night race.

F1 comes to Silverstone in July for the British Grand Prix and following Lewis Hamilton’s successes last year tickets for the race are already selling quickly.

View our exclusive 2008 F1 slide show now

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