The countdown to F1 2014 is well and truly underway

Today marks exactly 9 week's until the new F1 season gets underway in Melbourne Australia and this weekend's Autosport International Show in Birmingham was the perfect way to kick off the 2014 motorsport year.

Preseason testing get underway in a little over two weeks and we don't have long to wait to see what the new cars look like as McLaren will launch their new car on Friday 24th January, just four day's before the first test in Jerez Spain.

With so many changes this season and with Pirelli having to introduce more durable tyres this season it may take a while before we see who has the edge over their rivals. One thing is clear however and that is with all the changes in place you would thin that team's would be looking for continuity in their line-up's, but for most on the grid this is not the case.

the announcement at Autosport International yesterday that Max Chilton will remain with Marussia this season means that there are currently only two teams that have elected to retain their pairings from 2013.

Caterham are the only team left to announce who will drive for them in 2014 however, it is possible that Kamui Kobayashi could get one of the seats.

The 2014 season is going to be a major lottery with new regulations, new drivers and new circuits, it is anyone's guess as to who will come out on top by the end of the season. The introduction of the new regulations brings with it many challenges but also many opportunities. For example, Marussia and Caterham could be on target to score their first ever Formula One point this season.

With only 12 day's of testing available to them ahead of the start of the new season teams will need to dig deep to ensure that their news are ready for the first race of the new season on March 16th. The Lotus F1 Team are already on the back foot as the first test gets closer as they will miss it and will instead run their car for the first time in Bahrain on 19th February.

This, is some ways gives the Enstone based team an unfair advantage against their rivals because they will be able to monitor what the other teams are doing. I thin that the FIA need to impose another regulation that all cars MUST be ready by the second week of January as it would stop teams fro skipping tests.

What do you think of that idea? Should Formula One cars have a set time frame by which they need to be completed by?