The fundamentals of the cars this season have not changed, except for narrower front tyres from 270mm to 245mm and generally a longer wheelbase to accommodate a larger fuel tank. This current breed of designs weren't super-effective for creating overtaking, especially with the wake caused by double-deck diffusers, but they were not that bad either. The major change, though, is of course the ban on refuelling. Suddenly engine economy and not just power output has become important.

More importantly, the addition of the variable of changing fuel loads during the course of a Grand Prix, coupled to the rule that the top 10 on the grid will have to start the race on their qualifying tyre compound, means that compromise in terms of weight distribution and tyre wear is the name of the game, rather than optimisation. Some teams will get it right, some will get it wrong - over the season as a whole, from race to race, and even within a race itself.

The fact that compromise is the key has meant that testing - which has been disrupted anyway thanks to the inclement Spanish weather - has been wonderfully inconclusive. Who has been running heavy, and who has been running light? And just how heavy, and how light? Those who have been trying race simulations and running fuller tanks may not have exhausted their tanks and therefore hidden their ultimate pace. What tyres have people been running, and how will they respond to varying fuel loads?

Different compromises potentially creates disparity within the field, which could be conducive to good racing. Plus the ban on refuelling means there is less of a guarantee that you can rely on leapfrogging someone in the pits. Consider that, for the last decade, fuel loads have made more difference than fresh tyres during pit sequences. This means that new tyres are not that much of an advantage and it will require more driver skill to make the most of that, placing the onus back on the man in the cockpit.

Since you can't necessarily depend on pit stops to get past someone, there is greater incentive for overtaking on track - the moves simply have to be made, in the same way that reigning champion Jenson Button had to overtake cars in Brazil last year. The new points system helps as well; not only do points now extend down to 10th place, but the points awarded have not all increased by a similar factor, and instead there is more value for a win. Second place now only scores 72% of the points for 1st, not 80%.

Increasing emphasis back onto the driver is not the only human element which will be tested this year. The delicate interplay between fuel loads and tyre wear and track position means there is more scope for strategy calls on the hop. Previously the overriding fuel load concern meant that stops could only realistically happen in certain windows. Those windows have now widened. And shorter tyre-only stops that are not dependent on standard refuelling times means efficient pit crews can make a difference.

The Lotus name will grace the tracks for the first time since 1994, creating an interesting dilemma as to whether the Malaysian-backed team continues the record of the great team or should be treated as an Elvis impersonator. Virgin arrives with its all-CFD design and endless headline puns. And while Hispania with its Dallara chassis has had its funding difficulties, only USF1 has made a mockery of the FIA's drive to bring new teams into the sport, having fallen victim partly to last year's time-costly political machinations.

But it is the return of Michael Schumacher that has dominated the headlines. To put it into perspective, he started at the end of the Senna-Prost era, saw off the Hill-Hakkinen generation and the Alonso-Raikkonen generation, and will now battle the Hamilton-Vettel generation. He will be the oldest man to race in F1 for 15 years, and he returns not because he has anything to prove, but because win or lose he just can't get the F1 drug out of his system. That, for better or worse, is what sets him apart from the average Joe.

Schumi's return adds to the already-large number of fascinating subplots this season. What will happen when Michael goes head-to-head against a Ferrari? Will he or Sebastian Vettel win the battle of the past and present German Wunderkinds? How will Button fare in Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team? Will Fernando Alonso at Ferrari replicate his McLaren experience or his Renault experience? How will Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg handle the pressure of their star team-mates?

And what of the ambitious drivers who are saddled with middling machinery, like Robert Kubica at Renault and Rubens Barrichello at Williams? The biggest reshuffle ever has also seen a large crop of debutantes - Jaime Alguersuari and Kamui Kobayashi start their first full seasons, but there is also Nico Hulkenberg, Vitaly Petrov, Lucas di Grassi, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna, reviving the Senna surname in F1. But rookie drivers and rookie teams means rookie errors, and further unpredictability.

All this packed into an expanded calendar, with Canada returning and a new race in another Tilke-drome, this time in Korea, while Sakhir and Silverstone will also feature different layouts. A more peaceful atmosphere in the paddock seems to have taken hold as well - a potential new diffuser row notwithstanding. So the attention can be on what's happening on the track, and rightfully so. The ingredients are delicious. The hungry masses await. Let the players serve up the feast.