Friday 1 May 2015 09:00, UK
A is for Arrivabene, Maurizio – Ferrari’s new top man, charm personified and no fan of a top button.
B is for Backing Up – What Nico Rosberg accused Lewis Hamilton of doing to him in China. You may have heard about it.
C is for Contract – Which we are still waiting for Lewis Hamilton to sign with Mercedes despite it being “99.6 done” a month ago. C is also for Concussion, which Fernando Alonso suffered after his crash in testing, then didn’t, and then did again.
D is for Diaries, Rachel’s – The new favourite feature on the Sky F1 digital platforms, complete with messy notebooks.
E is for Eva – The name given to his Ferrari SF15-T car by Sebastian Vettel, a rather tame effort compared to previous efforts such as 'Kate's Dirty Sister', 'Luscious Liz' and ‘Kinky Kylie’ during his Red Bull tenure.
F is for Fernando Alonso – Who crashed on the final day of the first test Barcelona test. Beyond that, we’re not sure of anything. F is also for Future World Champion – or Max Verstappen as he is otherwise known.
G is for Giedo van der Garde – The 2015 driver who never was – and, despite the court ruling in Melbourne on the eve of the new season that he should drive for Sauber in 2015, was never likely to be either.
H is for Helmut Marko – The Red Bull advisor who returned to prominence in March after a couple of months spent on the periphery with the warning that the team may quit F1 unless Renault did their bit for competiveness.
I is for Invader, Track – In recognition of the unidentified individual who ran across the track and into the pitlane during Friday practice for the Chinese GP in the belief that all spectators in attendance were allowed to drive the cars. I is also for If only.
J is for Jorda, Carmen – The telegenic development driver at Lotus who has replaced the much-missed Sarah Becks as the apple of the world feed director’s eye.
K is for Kevin Magnussen – Fernando Alonso’s stand-in at the Australian GP. Yes, we struggled for a K.
L is for Lewis Hamilton – F1’s one-man headline maker, all round Box Office star, and world championship leader.
M is for Ms Liu Siying - The 22-year-old ‘real estate agent’ and podium model who was sprayed with champagne on the Shanghai podium to the subsequent fury and indignation of equal rights campaigners. Oddly, there was no comparable outrage when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg sprayed each other with rosewater in Bahrain.
N is for Nasr, Felipe – The young Sauber driver who recorded the best ever debut result for a Brazilian in Australia when he crossed the line in fifth.
O is for One Car – Which Manor only ran at any one time in Malaysia to widespread scepticism.
P is for Puzzle – Just why did Alonso crash during testing at Barcelona? Just when and how was he concussed? And does the puzzle deserve a –gate suffix yet?
Q is for Quit Threats – Of which there have been too many already this season.
R is for Red Bull - And R could also be for Renault, but unfortunately Red Bull and Renault don’t sit very well together at the moment. See also: Q is for Quit Threats.
S is for Sparks - What the cars are producing to mixed reviews after the introduction of titanium skid plates.
T is for Troupe, mettlesome - The quixotic description applied to the McLaren mechanics by their new boss, Eric Boullier, in the team’s tongue-twisting post-Malaysia GP press release which concluded with a tribute to their ‘indefatigable tenacity’. Or hard work, as it’s more commonly called.
U is for Upgrades – What we are expecting to be delivered by all the teams in Spain next week when the European leg of the season will begin.
V is for Verstappen, Max – F1’s hottest new talent and the sport’s youngest-ever points scorer.
W is for W06 – The Mercedes supercar which has powered the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton to victory in three of the opening four races.
X is for X-Factor – What Lewis Hamilton still has, what Sebastian Vettel may be recapturing, and what Max Verstappen already appears to possess.
Y is for Y did Alonso crash? – Well, almost.
Zzzz is for the Australian GP – The less said about that the better.
Watch every twist and turn of the Spanish GP weekend live only on Sky Sports F1. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday May 10, with our build-up underway from 11.30am. No Sky Sports? No problem! Get a NOW TV pass from only £6.99
