LONDON: This year’s Formula One season gets under way on Friday with two practice sessions in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. And it begins with everyone asking the same question they were pondering at the beginning of last season. And the season before that. Can Mercedes be beaten? The simple answer is “no.” Despite all the fanfare of a new era surrounding the return of motorsport’s most illustrious championship, there is a palpable air of familiarity. The only two teams even remotely capable of getting ahead of Mercedes and winning a Grand Prix have conceded that the Silver Arrows are the team to beat — Lewis Hamilton, in particular. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who, like Hamilton, can match the great Juan Manuel Fangio on five world titles with a championship victory this season, has made all the right moves and said all the right things in pre-season to at least give the impression he can challenge Mercedes. But the German driver is a realist and knows Hamilton and his teammate Valteri Bottas have a distinct advantage heading into the new season. This time last year, there was hope of a changing of the guard as Vettel took victory in Australia and was leading the drivers" championship standings until the Italian Grand Prix about six months later. Slowly but surely, however, Mercedes ironed out their early issues with what was undoubtedly a quick car, but one that had issues on certain tracks. Hamilton went on to take nine victories, Bottas obediently assumed his position as No. 2 driver, and Mercedes’ procession to the drivers’ and constructors’ championships was complete. With lessons learned, it seems unlikely the German outfit will make the same early errors. It is not all doom and gloom, however, and there are glimmers of hope for the F1 faithful. While nowhere near the performance of the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, Red Bull will become more competitive as the year goes on after an upgrade to its hybrid system becomes available in time for the Spanish Grand Prix in May. With the reliable Daniel Ricciardo and prodigious talent Max Verstappen in the cockpits, Red Bull will be looking to improve on their three Grand Prix victories last season and perhaps prolong Mercedes’ wait for the title at least. More importantly, Ferrari — which had arguably the best car on the grid in 2017, but threw away the title with team errors and questionable driving — appear to have adopted some of Mercedes’ pre-season ideas and improved their power and speed. Come Sunday, we will know if Ferrari have been successful and whether they can be in the mix for a first constructors’ championship since 2008. If they cannot, while F1 has undergone monumental change off the track, there will have been a depressing lack of change on it come the season-ender in Abu Dhabi in November.