But now the other teams have caught up, and 2000 will be a different proposition for the Woking team. Like it or not Ron Dennis is the ultimate professional, and his organisational ability is outstanding. The MP4/15 will be one of the fastest cars, but not the dominant one even if the new Mercedes engine is the most dominant in the power and sound stakes.

Mika Hakkinen is more relaxed and confident than he was in 1999, and that will help, but how long that remains to be the case will be interesting. David Coulthard, who was on par with the Finn in 1996 and 1997, but who has been vastly overshadowed in the last two years, is clearly on a mission.

Familiarity breeds contempt, and the Hakkinen-Coulthard partnership, now entering its fifth season, could prove increasingly hostile.

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Which is good news for Michael Schumacher; the German ace, so ambitious to be the first Ferrari World Champion in over two decades, has breathed a sigh of relief now that Eddie Irvine failed last year, and he knows he must make the most of his opportunities this year. This is the exciting side of it.

The anxious side lies in his team-mate, Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian is loveable, no other way to describe it, and fast as well. But it is clear he needs all the TLC he can get, and one wonders how much Ferrari can offer. Especially if his fighting words now about how he can (and will be allowed to) match it with Schumi dissolves into nothing after the first few races.

If Hakkinen v Coulthard could cause trouble, so can Schumacher v Barrichello, but the sad part is the Brazilian will be odds on to lose out in the mind games.

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Winter testing suggests that Jordan will once again be very solid if not spectacular, but one wonders if they will be left behind as other teams come up with flashes of brilliance. Especially since they will be using Mugen engines without factory Honda backing, which is focussed upon BAR. On the driver front Frentzen is full of self-belief, and should once again be superb.

But yet again there could be fireworks between him and his new team-mate, Jarno Trulli. He's renowned as a hard charger willing to ruffle some feathers along the way, and Frentzen's sensitivity ­ rather like Barrichello's ­ could be an easy target. These two will be very close, but the last thing Eddie Jordan will want is for these two to battle to the detriment of the team as a whole.

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Johnny Herbert, on the other hand, seemed to be a shadow of his best through most of 1999, but came good at the end and outperformed Barrichello. They say there's no feeling between them, but Irvine did Herbert of potential upset results at Monza 1994 and Melbourne 1997. Neither seems likely to get the better of the other, but their work could be undone by the new R1, which despite recording the fastest times at Jerez, has suffered endless mechanical difficulties.

But with Ford's resources, that won't be allowed to remain the case for long - the question of reliability is an important issue, as Stewart has fallen short there in the past few seasons. Podiums seem the realistic hope right now; wins seem a way off yet. And without results, Ford's hope that Jaguar will create a Jagosi in Britain like the Italian tifosi seem a touch ambitious.

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Ralf Schumacher probably won't mind that much; he's young and knows he has plenty of time ahead of him, and driving with the BMW engine means a lot to him, so he's willing to put in the hard yards. He also knows that it was in an inferior car that he made such a mighty impression last year. And he also realises that his team-mate, Jenson Button, whose fairly ridiculous inexperience will inevitably lead to costly and noticeable errors, may be fast but result-wise won't hold a candle up to him early on.

Button's signing clearly points to long-term plans on Frank Williams and Patrick Head's part, but continues their pattern for confusing driver choices ­ Jörg Müller seemed an obvious pick. Button will need some proper nurturing which Williams is not renowned for, lest he have as mistake-riddled a year as Jos Verstappen had for Benetton in 1994.

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After the virtual disaster that was 1999, Rocco Benetton's men will be hoping for a change of fortune and some predictability in 2000. The B200 is a back-to-basics chassis, and the massive test schedule so far points to improved reliability. Now they have to extract some speed out of it, but with the ageing Supertec engine this could be a tough ask.

This is a make or break year for the drivers as well. Firstly for Giancarlo Fisichella, who has to prove that, rather like Ralf Schumacher last year, he has the speed and determination to shine in a car which is not the best.

Even more so for Alexander Wurz, whose only podium was in Britain 1997, and who has been outshone by Fisichella in their two years together so far. His star is quickly fading after scoring only 3 points in 1999. Both of these able drivers risk staying in the comfortable surrounds of Benetton for too long.

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The partnership desperately needs good results this season. Once again John Barnard has come up with a uniquely different chassis; here is a fine designer with great ideas, but whose inability to be even slightly orthodox gets him and his teams in deep hot water if he doesn't get it right.

For a newcomer to F1, Nick Heidfeld comes in with an excellent reputation in F3000, and has a good midfield team to settle into, without the pressures of the top teams and the anonymity of the bottom ones.

For his team-mate, though, this is perhaps the last hurrah. As good and flashy as he is, Jean Alesi does not belong in the middle of the pack, and his efforts have been wasted over the last few years with Sauber. If they are wasted again in 2000, this could be the end of what should have been a magnificent career.

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Sauber doesn't appear to have a direction or a philosophy, especially since Mercedes has nothing to do with them any more, and has not since 1995. Only if they make some solid progress in 2000 will they really appear to be heading somewhere. The new chassis, once again a highly conservative one, seems capable of doing that, but the old Ferrari engine (badged as a Petronas) might show its age and crack under pressure this year.

Pedro Diniz has shown for the last few years what a combative and capable driver he has become, and should score more points again this year. He and Mika Salo, once again teamed together after an occasionally troublesome partnership at Arrows in 1998, should be evenly matched. For the Finn the question is whether or not he is motivated after the lofty heights of Ferrari last year.

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The new chassis looks nimble compared to the stodgy 1999 car, which really was the 1998 car in disguise. For the first time since the 1980s, Arrows will be using the same engine as one of the top teams (if Benetton is still that). Even if the Supertec isn't dynamite, it's a massive improvement over their own engine, and over the Yamaha and customer Ford powerplants they're used to using.

And Arrows have two determined drivers. Pedro de la Rosa is biding his time and waiting to explode into top-flight F1, while Jos Verstappen realises that this is a great opportunity in a competitive car to show what he's made of, as was the case with Simtek in early 1995 and with the Arrows in the first part of 1996.

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Aerodynamically, Giancarlo Minardi's troupe are always close to the forefront, but without the necessary grunt it means little. But it was in a similar situation that Marc Gene shone so much last year, and he will hope to do the same. The worry is with the other car; Argentine Gaston Mazzacane may have testing experience with Minardi, but his racing CV isn't brilliant, though he's done well in the ISRS recently.

The fear is, while Gene looks like another Pedro Diniz in the making, Minardi rarely strike good fortune twice in a row. While we'd all love to see Gene and Mazzacane match it with the midfield runners, currently the pundits suggest that even Gene only has a little chance of doing that while Mazzacane has none at all.

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Craig Pollock is determined that actions will speak louder than words this year, for his own sake, for the sake of his relationship with Adrian Reynard, and for his partnership with Jacques Villeneuve. By the second half of the season BAR should definitely be a force to be reckoned with. With the money of British American Tobacco, 1999 will not be allowed to repeat itself. Jacques Villeneuve drove out of his skin last year for absolutely no reward, and despite rumblings that he might leave the team, he too seriously wants the BAR partnership to work.

If the car can do the job, Villeneuve will extract everything out of it. Ricardo Zonta is also hurting from 1999; if anything he was the unsung victim. He knows he didn't make an impression, especially considering his accidents for a man of his ability. He is keen to make up for lost time this year.

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Look for Jaguar, Williams, Arrows and BAR to improve as the season progresses, with Benetton, Prost and Sauber remaining static and falling back down the grid.

REJECTS IN 2000:

• Jenson Button
• Coulthard/Hakkinen pairing
• Minardi's Ford engine
• Gaston Mazzacane
• Prost package
• Williams/BAR liveries