The new Formula One season is only days away, with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14 officially starting the race for the title. New configurations, teams reshuffling, defending champions and aspiring challengers should make for a memorable season. Oh, and let’s not forget the much-publicised return of seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher.

It will be an interesting season by all accounts, not only for the hardcore F1 element, but also the less avid watchers of the sport. For the first time in years, there appears to be a big level of uncertainty because there are quite a few drivers with a chance of winning the title.

Defending champion Jenson Button is clearly not going to be the favourite to win back-to-back titles, but he will not go down without a fight.

Compatriot and former champion Lewis Hamilton, according to some analysts, will mount a far superior challenge than he did last season, and should be among the top contenders for the title.

Young German wonder kid Sebastian Vettel will be right up there among the elite, considering how his Red Bull car has been performing in pre-season trials, while Brazilian "eternal bridesmaid" Rubens Barrichello and Spain’s two-time former champion Fernando Alonso are also going to put up a fight. There are also Australian Mark Webber, former championship runner-up Felippe Massa and, of course, Schumacher, to name a few.

Perhaps to defuse some of the hype, or maybe create a bigger one, Formula One promoter Bernie Ecclestone dismissed the possibility that the German veteran will amount to anything important.

"At the moment, we don’t know what sort of car Michael has got and it seems he might not be at the front. We all know what he is like when things don’t go his way and he might run out of patience if he finds himself stuck in the middle," he was quoted as saying in British media.

To an extent, Schumacher’s Mercedes has not exactly been a jaw-dropper in pre-season testing but there is a quiet confidence that suggests Ross Brawn knows there is plenty to come, while Schumacher will be quick on the pace. The German, after all, is renowned for his communication skills and for his unerring ability to demand, squeeze, and force anything out of his engineers. What made the German great were not only his piloting skills, but his ability to tell his team, engineers and mechanics exactly what was wrong with the vehicle or what he wanted.

"We all want to win," Schumacher said. "The season will be long and hard but I love this fight. It is because of this fight that I came back to Formula One. I said it quite clear from the beginning that we do not have to – and probably will not – be in the position to win," the German was quoted as saying by the Times of London.

Meanwhile, English racing legend Nigel Mansell believes Lewis Hamilton will have the edge over teammate Jenson Button at McLaren when the new season begins, also playing down the importance of the return of the great German.

Hamilton, who won the F1 crown in 2008, will team up with reigning champion Button in an all-British onslaught from McLaren, who will continue to use Mercedes engines.

But considering the calibre of both pilots and their natural reluctance to play second fiddle (in their championship-winning seasons, both pilots were accused by their teammates at the time of getting preferential treatment from team bosses), it is easy to anticipate that should either feel slighted by the team management, a great British rift was possible.

"You always go into a team thinking you’re equal to the best in the world," Button told inracingnews.com. "Nobody ever knows until you race against other drivers who are competitive. But I’m not going into the first race thinking ‘If he beats me in this race, that’s it, it’s game over.’ Nor am I thinking if I beat him ‘Yay, that’s it, I’ve won the championship.’ It’s not like that. It’s a 19-race series, a long championship, and we will see what happens."

After fears last year that F1 could disintegrate and spawn a breakaway league, the trumpeted accusations that the championship was boring and predictable, the new season brings renewed excitement.

It is when people who normally would not give F1 a second glance suddenly start talking about it that you know that something is in the air.