Rivals revving up to overtake Hamilton

Formula One's young guns out to end Briton's dominance as uncertainty on and off track clouds new season

LONDON－An air of unrest and uncertainty hangs over Formula One as the global motor racing bandwagon flies to Melbourne for the start of the 71st championship season at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton's bid to equal Michael Schumacher's tally of a record seven drivers' titles, and to overhaul his total of 91 race victories, will surely be the greatest focus of on-track attention as his younger rivals attempt to challenge his supremacy.

Against a backdrop of climate-crisis demonstrations and coronavirus fears, not to mention an angry anti-Ferrari schism in the pit lane, it is hardly likely to be a peaceful season.

Hamilton is in the final year of his current Mercedes contract amid persistent rumors of a possible future move to Ferrari while the sport itself is bracing for the introduction of a radical new rule book and revamped formula in 2021－and the need for a green revolution beyond that.

The 2020 calendar, originally a bloated and unprecedented 22 races, including new events in Vietnam and the Netherlands, has been hit by late alterations including the postponement of China's race in April, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and doubts over other grands prix.

It is a situation demanding day-to-day reviews with the races in Bahrain on March 22 and in Hanoi on April 5 most susceptible to enforced delays or cancellation before the revived Dutch Grand Prix, on May 3, marks the opening of the European season.

On Sunday, Bahrain announced a plan to race without spectators.