Complete guide to 2015 Formula 1 grid

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THE line-up of drivers who will take to the grid for the 2015 Formula 1 season has finally been settled as the cars take to the track for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

Here is the rundown of who is where, and how each team is shaping up for Albert Park.

Watch all the Formula 1 practice, qualifying and race action from the Australian Grand Prix LIVE in HD on FOX SPORTS Australia this weekend (Channel 506).

GAME ON: SYDNEY'S BRAZEN BID TO HOST F1 RACE

JEOPARDY: DRIVER'S LEGAL WIN COULD DERAIL SAUBER'S SEASON

BATTLE BORN: HAMILTON EXPECTS FIERCE FIGHT WITH ROSBERG

UNKNOWN: BUTTON UNSURE OF MCLAREN-HONDA'S PACE

NEW DIGS: VETTEL 'HAS A LOT TO PROVE' AT FERRARI

MERCEDES

No. 44 — Lewis Hamilton
No. 6 — Nico Rosberg

All things being equal, one of these men will likely be world champion come November. Mercedes is believed to again have the edge on their rivals in 2015, setting up another season of Hamilton vs. Rosberg match-ups.

Hopefully, Mercedes will again allow their drivers to choose different race strategies, giving us hope that the two silver arrows will again be engaged in heated dogfights come Sunday afternoon.

Rosberg will be desperate to win a title after his disastrous end to 2014, while it remains to be seen which Hamilton will arrive to start the season; the 2011-spec 'mopey' Lewis from his first breakup with Nicole Scherzinger, or the supremely confident man who is arguably the best driver in F1.

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RED BULL

No. 3 — Daniel Ricciardo
No. 26 — Daniil Kvyat

The fortunes of Australia's great hope will hinge on the performance of the metallic lump behind his race seat. Renault's engineers have made gains over the off-season, but will they be enough to vault them into the same stratosphere with Mercedes? On testing form, they perhaps should be more concerned at keeping Ferrari at bay.

Ricciardo's dream 2014 season will be a hard act to follow, but he has proven that, when the Red Bull is in the hunt, he cannot be discounted. The big question mark is over his teammate.

Kvyat was quietly impressive in his rookie season. He drove fast and he learnt faster. How he handles the move from mid-pack scrapper to battling with the big boys will be fascinating to watch.

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FERRARI

No. 5 — Sebastian Vettel
No. 7 — Kimi Raikkonen

The desire for redemption pervades the storied halls of Maranello entering 2015. On the heels of the Scuderia's worst season in two decades, everyone from the management down is hoping for a much better showing.

Testing form suggests the car could be a regular challenger in the 'best of the rest' group behind Mercedes. As 2014 showed, this can be enough to see them punch a win sometime this year.

Anything remotely resembling a victory will be manna from heaven for Vettel and Raikkonen. Both men need a car they get along with to resurrect their flagging reputations; for the latter, the SF15-T could save his career. Both are proven race winners and will be keen to show they can still be regarded as threats.

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WILLIAMS

No. 19 — Felipe Massa
No. 77 — Valtteri Bottas

It is time for the once great team to show their 2014 return to form was no flash in the pan. Pat Symonds has remoulded the team into one that is capable of challenging for victory, and they were desperately unlucky not to score one last year.

Their new car appears to have held its place among the best on the grid, which is good news for two drivers who are focused on scoring a victory this year for different reasons.

For Bottas, it would signal his arrival as a genuine future world title contender, the fulfilling of his clear promise. For Massa, it will cap off one of the best comeback stories in sport. They were aatch for each other last year, but will the Finn start to gain the edge over his veteran teammate?

MCLAREN

No. 14 — Fernando Alonso
No. 22 — Jenson Button
No. 20 — Kevin Magnussen (Australia only)

As with Red Bull, this team's fortunes depend on how fast their engine can get up to speed. The team have faith that the car is good and that the engine will be good, but will we have to wait until the end of the year for it to realise its potential?

Alonso's testing crash is another blow that neither party needed. When he is fit to return, he will do his usual professional job of dragging an unbelievable performance out of a less-than-suitable car, but he will need to see progress if he is to keep his chin up.

Once again, Button will be looking to prove the doubters wrong. Few thought he would get close to Hamilton at McLaren, yet on his day, Jenson was light years ahead. Give him the right car and he will give you wins, but will the car be right?

Magnussen gets a rare chance to show a team it made a mistake in letting him languish as a mere test driver. Australia was his best drive last year, and the Dane will be keen to show he is still worthy of a full-time place on the grid.

LOTUS

No. 8 — Romain Grosjean
No. 13 — Pastor Maldonado

It is easy to forget that both of these drivers have been, at one stage or another, among the quickest drivers on the grid. Grosjean was second only to Vettel in the back half of 2013, while the Venezuelan is a notified GP winner.

What they lacked last year were the two things you can't be without in this hybrid era of F1: a consistent car and a good engine. They've fixed the latter by swapping their Renault for a Mercedes. Both men also believe the new car is light years ahead of last year's pig.

If the E23 is as good as Lotus hopes it is, Grosjean could again be a podium threat this year. And if the Frenchman's transition from crash-prone wally to winner in waiting rubs off on his teammate, Maldonado too.

FORCE INDIA

No. 11 — Sergio Perez
No. 27 — Nico Hulkenberg

It has been a worryingly quiet off-season for the team that is usually next-best behind the big squads. Their new car only ran at the final test, with repeated rumours of the team striking financial troubles.

Regardless of the whys and hows, the lack of track time could put drivers Hulkenberg and Perez on the back foot early in the season, when the team is traditionally its strongest. On the flip side, their engine package has been stable over the off-season so they will only be learning the traits of the new chassis.

Both drivers are at a career crossroads. Each needs to outperform the other to stand any hope of moving up to a better team. With both proving to be evenly matched last year, that could cause more than a few fireworks.

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SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO

No. 33 — Max Verstappen
No. 55 — Carlos Sainz Jr

STR is the Red Bull junior team in every sense of the word this year, with the Italian squad given rookie drivers Sainz and Verstappen to work with this year.

Both drivers have been quietly impressive during testing, making very few errors at a time where every lap completed is vital to both team and pilot. The downside is that the car was rated as the least impressive of all of the 2015 machines during pre-season testing.

A heavily revised car could help the team get closer to the main pack. Allied to many pundits' high expectations of Verstappen, that could be enough for STR to spring a few surprises.

SAUBER

No. 9 — Marcus Ericsson
No. 12 — Felipe Nasr
No. ? - Giedo van der Garde

After what appeared to be its steadiest off-season in several seasons, the week leading into the Australian Grand Prix has seen the Sauber team clouded in controversy.

Giedo van der Garde's successful legal bid to enforce a 2015 race contract he held with Sauber has thrown the team's preparations into disarray. They had been poised to head into the season with fresh-faced youngsters Ericsson and Nasr off the back of a steady and solid pre-season.

Now, with the team scrambling to accommodate the Dutchman into their line-up for the race, what impact it will have on the team's fortunes is anyone's guess. The likely loss of sponsorship dollars from having to bench either Nasr or Ericsson is also not something the cash-strapped team can afford.

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Will Stevens. Source: Getty Images

MANOR

No. 28 — Will Stevens
No. 98 — Roberto Merhi

That this team is even in Melbourne is a remarkable achievement. The British team that was in ruins late last year has been rebuilt with new enthusiasm and new funding.

They will run upgraded versions of their already outpaced 2014 cars in Melbourne, which means the only yardsticks for drivers Stevens and Merhi are each other.

Roberto Merhi. Source: Getty Images

BREAKDOWN

DRIVERS WHO CHANGED TEAMS: 6
Vettel (Red Bull to Ferrari)
Alonso (Ferrari to McLaren)
Kvyat (Toro Rosso to Red Bull)
Ericsson (Caterham to Sauber)
Nasr (Williams reserve driver to Sauber)
Stevens (Caterham to Manor)

DRIVERS OUT: 6
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
Adrian Sutil (Sauber)
Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)
Jules Bianchi (Marussia)
Max Chilton (Marussia)
Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham)

DRIVERS IN: 4
Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso)
Nasr (Sauber)
Merhi (Manor)

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AGE
Youngest driver: Verstappen (17)
Oldest driver: Raikkonen (35)
Average age: 27

RACES STARTED (by team)
McLaren: 501 (Alonso 235, Button 266), 285 (Button 266, Magnussen 19)
Ferrari: 351 (Vettel 139, Raikkonen 212)
Mercedes: 314 (Hamilton 148, Rosberg 166)
Williams: 248 (Massa 210, Bottas 38)
Force India: 150 (Hulkenberg 76, Perez 74)
Lotus: 140 (Grosjean 64, Maldonado 76)
Red Bull: 88 (Ricciardo 69, Kvyat 19)
Sauber: 35 (Ericsson 16, Nasr 0, Van der Garde 19)
Manor: 1 (Stevens 1, Merhi 0)
Toro Rosso: 0 (Verstappen 0, Sainz 0)
Overall in 2015: 1808
Overall in 2014: 1793

RACE WINNERS: 9 drivers
Vettel, 39
Hamilton, 33
Alonso, 32
Raikkonen, 20
Button, 15
Massa, 11
Rosberg, 8
Ricciardo, 3
Maldonado, 1
Total race wins on grid: 162

WORLD CHAMPIONS: 5 drivers
Vettel, 4 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Alonso, 2 (2005, 2006)
Hamilton, 2 (2008, 2014)
Raikkonen, 1 (2007)
Button, 1 (2009)
Total championships on grid: 10

POLE POSITIONS WINNERS: 9 drivers
Vettel, 45
Hamilton, 38
Alonso, 22
Raikkonen, 16
Massa, 16
Rosberg, 15
Button, 8
Hulkenberg, 1
Maldonado, 1

LED A LAP OF A RACE: 13 drivers
Vettel (2,438)
Hamilton (1,837)
Alonso (1,767)
Raikkonen (1,156)
Massa (917)
Button (762)
Rosberg (695)
Ricciardo (72)
Hulkenberg (43)
Grosjean (40)
Maldonado (37)
Perez (23)
Bottas (4)

Statistics sourced from StatsF1.com

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