No more safety car in wet weather, more powerful engines, and faster tyres: The stunning rule changes ahead of the most exciting F1 season ever
Curtain raiser gets underway this weekend as Australia host the first race of the new calendar
A NEW F1 season brings new optimism among the 20 drivers on the grid.
Here SunSPORT looks at the new rules and other changes for 2017.
NEW OWNERS
The biggest change? Liberty Media completed their £6.8billion takeover during the winter. American Chase Carey has replaced Bernie Ecclestone as CEO, bringing an end to his 40-year management of F1.
Former team principal Ross Brawn has returned to F1 as Managing Director Motorsports and charged with making the sport more appealing and exciting in the future.
NEW DRIVERS AND DRIVER LINE-UP CHANGES
Lance Stroll will make his F1 debut for Williams while McLaren have promoted Stoffel Vandoorne to replace Jenson Button. In addition, five drivers have changed teams.
Valtteri Bottas has joined Mercedes from Williams, Nico Hulkenberg (Force India to Renault), Kevin Magnussen (Renault to Haas), Esteban Ocon (Manor to Force India) and Pascal Wehrlein (Manor to Sauber).
TEAM CHANGES
Over the winter, Manor F1 team went into administration and with no buyer found, have been wound up, so the grid shrinks to 10 teams. There have been plenty of moves between teams of key personnel, the most notable was Paddy Lowe's departure from Mercedes to Williams.
James Allison moved to Mercedes from Ferrari to replace Lowe. Frederic Vasseur has also left his role as team principal for Renault and been replaced by Cyril Abiteboul.
MY VIEW
SO much for shaking up the grid.
This season's new F1 rules had promised to change the pecking order, yet after just 90 minutes of on-track action in Melbourne we were back on Noah's Ark.
They went in two by two; two Mercedes, followed by two Red Bulls and then two Ferraris.
That said, it would be extremely wrong to dismiss this season -- one of the most anticipated in years -- as another dull-fest.
But in order for it to truly catch light, we need Ferrari to step up a few gears, and to do it quickly.
In fairness to the Italian team, they were better in the second practice session, yet a 0.583s gap is some way off worrying Lewis Hamilton.
Perhaps we should not be so surprised after all.
Mark Webber pointed out to me two weeks ago that Ferrari can do it when there is an empty grandstand, it's just when the pressure it on that they crumble.
I truly hope that is not the case, for Formula One needs to see a close fight between the top teams.
In 2012, we had seven different winners in seven different races; oh, what we would give to have the same again this season.
I am sure Mercedes will not have it all their own way this time round and I for one am excited about 2017.
I just hope Ferrari don't stuff it all up again.
CALENDAR
There a no new races this season, however, the calendar has shrunk from 21 to 20 races as the German GP has been scrapped due to costs and poor ticket sales.
CARS
For the first time in years, new rules have been introduced to make the F1 cars faster. Previously, new rules looked to reel in the successful teams by banning the likes of rear diffusers.
The rulebook was changed and the cars this year are lower and wider and look more aggressive as a result.
They could be up to five seconds a lap faster than this stage last year due to the increase in downforce levels. Part of the new rules have allowed teams to place "shark fins" on top of their engine covers to improve air flow, giving the cars a distinctive look.
TYRES
Another big change is the wider Pirelli tyres. The fronts are 70mm wider than last year's, and rears that have increased by 80mm. These not only make the cars look bigger, they also improve cornering speeds.
However, they also make it more physical for drivers to wrestle around the track.
ENGINES
There have been no substantial engine changes, however, the confusing token system has been ditched. It means teams are free to develop their powerunits over the course of the season.
Teams are now limited to four powerunits (that consist of six parts) to use over the season before they suffer grid penalties. The amount of fuel has been increased by five kilos to 105kg.
WET RACES
No more racing behind the safety car in wet weather. If the track is deemed clear to race, then the racing will resume from a standing start.