The lights go out on this year’s 24-round FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne this weekend. This season not only marks the 75^th anniversary of F1, which was born at Silverstone back in 1950, but also is one of the most eagerly-anticipated series in history with at least six potential champions coming under starters orders in the wee early hours of Sunday morning.

Adding to the excitement three of those drivers are British: Sir Lewis Hamilton has switched to Ferrari in his quest for an unprecedented eighth title while Lando Norris and George Russell spearhead the respective attacks of front-runners McLaren and Mercedes.

To lift motorsport’s most coveted crown, however, they must stop all-conquering Max Verstappen from taking a fifth consecutive premier league title with Red Bull, a feat never achieved before.

With teenager Ollie Bearman one of six rookies – the most since 2001 – embarking on their first full F1 campaign, the UK will again be the best represented country on the Grand Prix grid with four F1 drivers lining-up for the ‘off’ in Australia.

Over the past 75 years British drivers have ruled the roost with ten champions amassing 20 titles between them. Such is the UK’s dominance that no other country has produced more than three different title winners – a testament to the UK’s proven prowess at producing top talents.

Hamilton, Norris, Russell and Bearman all cut their teeth in the super formative world of junior UK karting before switching to single-seaters. In Hamilton’s case that was in the now departed Formula Renault; Norris, Russell and Bearman all underlined their promise by winning F4 championships.

Norris, Russell and Bearman are also beneficiaries of Motorsport UK’s successful Academy, an initiative run by the governing body specifically to nurture and support the UK’s most talented young drivers – helping these future stars to fulfil their potential. Hamilton would, doubtless, be another of the Academy’s high profile alumni but the performance pathway was not in existence when he graduated to the big time.

The success story of British motorsport, of course, runs far deeper than just the drivers on the grid. In the paddock and pits no fewer than seven of the current ten F1 teams are based here in the UK – a number which will soon be boosted by next year’s arrival of the Silverstone-based Cadillac entry.

In the meantime, the focus switches back to the prospect of an epic F1 season to remember. The closeness of the competition in the second half of 2024, plus the fact that no team appeared to have a clear advantage in the limited pre-season testing, has fuelled excitement ahead of Sunday’s opener in Albert Park.

Such is the anticipation that many will want to catch the action live. Sky F1 will be providing comprehensive coverage from down under with Qualifying commencing at 5am on Saturday and the Grand Prix itself blasting off at an even earlier 4am on Sunday. For terrestrial tv viewers, Channel 4 will be screening Qualifying highlights at a somewhat more civilised 10:30am on Saturday with Grand Prix highlights at 1pm on Sunday.

Most, we suspect, will be setting their alarm clocks!

(Photo: Sir Lewis Hamilton switches to Ferrari)