ALL-CONQUERING TEAM: Lewis Hamilton, right, and teammate Nico Rosberg stand next to a Mercedes-Benz SSK in Fellbach, Germany, recently. Picture: EPA/MARIJAN MURAT

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LONDON — More races, more teams, a trio of rookies and more complicated new rules, Formula One roars back to life with a fresh coat of paint in Melbourne this weekend, but facing many familiar problems and questions.

First among them is the unknown level of motivation that defending three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will take into the 2016 season as he seeks a hat-trick of successive title triumphs with the all-conquering Mercedes team.

Hamilton, champion in 2008, 2014 and 2015, appeared to lose his mojo at the end of last year, once he had clinched the title with three races to go, allowing teammate Nico Rosberg to seize the momentum going into the European winter. Pre-season testing in Spain has given few clues on how the Briton and the German will size up when they race in earnest for the first time at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 20.

Beyond that, it is virtually impossible to know what may lie ahead.

While Mercedes-Benz delivered impressive reliability and endurance, as well as solid speed and performance, at the two weeks of testing in Spain, Ferrari were faster with both four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen topping the times.

That suggests much of the same this year, with Ferrari closing the gap and Vettel, in his second season with the scarlet scuderia, mounting a more serious challenge to the pace-setting Mercedes outfit. For the champions, the main problem may be in managing the relationship between their globe-trotting superstar champion, who may be distracted, and his frustrated but wholly committed teammate as Ferrari close in.

Behind them, the unchanged Williams and Red Bull teams are likely leaders of the chasing pack, while the field will welcome the arrival of the new Haas team, the first American outfit to race in Formula One in three decades.

With Dallara chassis and Ferrari power units, and with Frenchman Romain Grosjean as lead driver alongside Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, they are aiming to make a solid mid-field start and may upset the returning Renault squad, following their takeover of Lotus.

It will also be intriguing to see if the McLaren-Honda team that experienced a deeply disappointing 2015 season, continues to struggle — a story that could lead to tensions as two-time champion Fernando Alonso and 2009 champion, Jenson Button lose patience.

Renault’s return has ushered in team changes including the departure of Grosjean and the arrival of British newcomer Jolyon Palmer. Simultaneously, Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela has been replaced by Kevin Magnussen of Denmark.

Renault’s return also means that their engines continue to be used, although now with the aid of performance-tweaking from Ilmor Engineering.

For Red Bull, the power units are being badged by Tag-Heuer, while their "siblings" Toro Rosso, with an unchanged driver line-up, have switched from Renault to Ferrari power.

The other two rookies will be the Manor Racing pairing of German prodigy Pascal Wehrlein and Indonesia’s first F1 driver Rio Haryanto in a Mercedes-powered team that is intent on making serious progress from the back.

Following the departures of team bosses John Booth and Graeme Lowdon, Manor have recruited former McLaren manager Dave Ryan and former Ferrari technical staff Pat Fry and Nikolas Tombazis.

The calendar has expanded to an unprecedented 21 events including a first visit to a new street circuit at Baku in Azerbaijan where the European Grand Prix will be held in June.

AFP