Image source, Getty Images

The Formula 1 cars that start the new season in Bahrain this weekend represent the biggest year-on-year change for 40 years - and possibly ever.

Aerodynamicists in the F1 teams - such as myself - have been working on their designs on and off since 2019, and this weekend represents a time of extreme anxiousness and high excitement as we find out for the first time how well we have interpreted the new rules.

To the untrained eye, the cars may not look that different from those that ended the 2021 season. But in fact the rule book has been thrown out and the regulations started again from scratch.

The shape of almost every part of the car has changed. Not only that, but there is a bigger visual difference between the cars from the various teams than there has been for some time.

• Read the full feature from the Secret Aerodynamicist here

It's lights out at 15:00 GMT, so still just enough time to have a listen of the Chequered Flag Podcast, reviewing all the action from qualifying.

There was some fighting talk from McLaren boss Zak Brown after qualifying, with Lando Norris only 13th and Daniel Ricciardo, who missed all three days of Testing in Bahrain last week because of a positive Covid-19 test, down in 18th.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

No surprises for guessing the two most disappointed teams after qualifying. McLaren certainly did not expect to be 13th and 18th, and both Aston Martins were knocked out in first qualifying. At Aston Martin, the volcanic eruption when team owner Lawrence Stroll found out he had - for this weekend at least - the slowest car on the grid can only be imagined.

His son, Lance, starts 19th on the grid, two places behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, impressive on his last-minute return in place of Covid-stricken Sebastian Vettel. Stroll said they were “disappointed” and it was “not what we expected”. He said they lacked grip and wondered if changes made after final practice had been in the wrong direction. “The early races are going to be a learning curve as we try to understand the car more.

McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl said: “We simply have to acknowledge we miss performance. The track could be exaggerating it but we want to get to the point when we have a strong car at all tracks.”

Image source, Reuters

World champion Max Verstappen speaking to Sky Sports F1: "We have to score points. We have a competitive car and will try to fight for the win. Let's see how the race is going to go. I think will be very close.

"We need to play the long game. Last year the race was decided in the last few laps and probably will be the same again.

"So we have to stay focused and obviously try to attack."

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc speaking to Sky Sports F1 about qualifying in pole position: "It wasn't an easy qualifying session for me. We were struggling to put our tyres in the right window. It was not a completely clean lap and so I am extremely happy to be on pole.

"I was doubtful as I thought Red Bull had two or three tenths on us and I was expecting Max [Verstappen] to be in front, but it was a good surprise."

On his chances in the race: "Everyone is expecting us to win after what we did yesterday in qualifying, so we need to stay focused on our own job.

"We look strong but Red Bull seem to be a bit stronger than us on race pace.

"I still expect them to have those two or three tenths on us on race day, but let's hope we have another good surprise.

"It's always exciting to be fighting with Max [Verstappen]. In 2019 we had a car to fight each other and I'm really looking forward to resuming that fight again today."

Let's all hope it's a season where fans can be attending and mixing with their heroes at every race.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

Valtteri Bottas has become used to qualifying alongside Lewis Hamilton over the last five years. But he perhaps did not expect to be doing it again following his move to Alfa Romeo, however optimistic the Finn was about how it would go. So when he qualified sixth, with Lewis Hamilton fifth, Bottas sent Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff a message. "He just sent me a WhatsApp and said: ‘Looking forward to racing you guys tomorrow,’” Wolff said. “I’m happy for him, that he’s made the move to Alfa and he’s the lead driver and he’s energising the team. They’ve put in a lot of work to make the team go forwards and I’m happy for all of them.”

Bottas said: “To be on the third row in our first qualifying together is a big achievement and we need to be satisfied – both me and the team. Our long-run pace looked even better than on the single lap, so we can be in the fight.

"The top four are probably out of reach for everyone, but it would be nice to have a battle with Mercedes. In any case, this is the start of our journey and I want us to look forward and not back: the objective is to be up here at the flag and bring home good points.”

World champion Max Verstappen has got number '1' on his car and will be hoping to start the title defence off with a win.

This race has been won a British or German driver in each of the past 10 years.

Lewis Hamilton has won it all of the past three years, as well as in 2013 and 2014.

Nico Rosberg triumphed here in 2016 and Sebastian Vettel has won on four occasions, twice for Red Bull in 2012 and 2013, and twice for Ferrari in 2017 and 2018.

The last non-British or German winner was Fernando Alonso back in 2010 when at Ferrari.

As always at the start of every F1 season all the teams line up in a squad picture.

These are 19 of the 20 drivers we should be seeing each week, with the only one missing being Sebastian Vettel as a positive Covid-19 test ruled him out of this one, with Nico Hulkenberg in his place for Aston Martin this weekend.

As always feel free to let us know your thoughts and predictions on today's race, via #bbcf1 on twitter.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

Fifth on the grid and nearly 0.7 seconds off the pace is not a familiar place for Mercedes, but such had been their build-up to this race that Lewis Hamilton admitted he “genuinely felt positive about today” after qualifying.

“We definitely didn't expect to be fifth,” he said, “and so I'm happy to be in there. The guys ahead, they are a lot quicker, six-tenths is a lot of time. But yes, I do know there's potential, and I think just got to work very, very fast and be precise over these next weeks to try and close that gap as soon as we can.”

Porpoising - high-frequency bouncing - on the straights is the main concern. “We have made a small step,” said George Russell, down in ninth after a mistake on his one lap in Q3. “Just see how much we are bouncing around and we know how much performance there is if we can get the car lower to the ground.

"It’s no secret. When you’re bouncing you have to raise the car otherwise you just can’t drive it. That is our big limitation at the moment.” Engine performance is also a question mark at Mercedes, for the first time ever in the hybrid era. All the Mercedes-powered cars are struggling on the straights. The company line is that it’s hard to separate the influence of drag and power, but McLaren’s Lando Norris admitted: “You can see the bunch of Mercedes guys are lacking a little bit.”

Image source, Reuters

George Russell, who starts from P9, speaks to Sky Sports F1 ahead of his first season as a Mercedes driver: "We need to make the most of it. I am not too disappointed because of yesterday. We had to go for it and now need to maximise all opportunities.

"From P9 there is no reason why we can't progress through the field and see where we end up."

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who starts down in fifth, spoke to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying and said: "I'm not saying I'm relieved, in general I'm really happy with the day compared to where we've been in the last two weeks.

"It has been a bit of a nightmare to drive, but we kept working and I'm proud of everyone.

"The guys ahead of us are in another league. In general I'm happy where we are, it's not the front row but we will make improvements as well as we can.

"These guys (Red Bull and Ferrari) will be going ahead, we are not in the fight with them, my battle is with the guys behind us. Their performance was quite a bit ahead of us."

This is how we line up today - Ferrari, Red Bull, Ferrari, Red Bull.

Image source, F1

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

Ferrari have looked promising from the start of pre-season testing, and there was a quiet confidence about the team throughout this weekend. Even so, the daunting performance shown by Red Bull on the final day of testing had led many people to install them as pre-season favourites.

But Charles Leclerc, after struggling with sector one throughout qualifying, pulled it all together and stole pole position from world champion Max Verstappen at the very end of qualifying. The Red Bull’s race pace looks intimidating - but there is nothing to compare it to, as Leclerc did not really do a race-simulation run on Friday. But the lap he did was every bit as quick as Verstappen’s first one.

“We were pretty sure that Red Bull was going to be a bit quicker than us also in qualifying,” Leclerc said. “But, yeah, good surprise that wasn’t the case. Now we need to finish the weekend on a high. It’s not going to be easy. Tyre degradation here is a thing, especially with this increase in weight this year. So we need to focus on that and hopefully have a good race.”

Charles Leclerc secured the 10th pole position of his career, however, he only has two wins to his name so can he start and finish at the front today?

And have a listen below to how Charles Leclerc grabbed pole position for this race.