McLaren

Position 1998: Champions.

Drivers: Mika Hakkinen (champion last year), David Coulthard (3rd).

The champions were, save for Michael Schumacher and a few mid-season technical hiccups, almost unassailable last year. This year will prove a less happy hunting ground as the engineering gap has narrowed and McLaren stretch the boundaries of reliability in an attempt to stay one step ahead. Already the new MP14 has shown signs of fragility and expect Ferrari and possibly Jordan to capitalise on any blow-ups. Hakkinen, though, will be a surer package for having won the championship and won't be undone by Schumacher's mind games. The only other fly in the ointment is a resurgent Coulthard, looking to banish the ghosts of last season. Still, expect them to take the constructors' title again.

Ferrari

Position 1998: 2nd.

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (2nd), Eddie Irvine (4th).

The Ferrari reconstruction reaches an apogee of sorts this year with the ultimate driver harnessed to possibly the very best machine the team has ever had. Last year the Scuderia were undone by early lack of competitiveness and the lack of Bridgestone grip. This time rock-solid reliability, ferocious power and the right boots will give Schumacher the edge he needs to break McLaren's dominance. Expect Irvine to fulfil the role of faithful retainer with still more aplomb but if Schumacher goes off and the Ulsterman can concentrate for longer than a nanosecond then he might just break his duck and avoid surpassing Jean Alesi's unenviable record of 15 top three finishes without a win.

Williams

Position 1998: 3rd.

Drivers: Ralf Schumacher (10th), Alex Zanardi (did not compete).

In a vain attempt to inject some life into a flagging machine, Williams enter 1999 as Williams F1 (thus losing the tonguetwisting Williams Grand Prix Engineering), but it's a mild sop to a season of water-treading before BMW power comes their way in 2000. Not that they won't be competitive. With an interesting driver combination in Ralf Schumacher and F1 prodigal Alex Zanardi allied to the technical nous that's still the bedrock of the team, expect Williams to be vying for fourth with the other Supertec-powered teams, Benetton and BAR.

Jordan

Position 1998: 4th.

Drivers: Damon Hill (6th), Heinz Harald Frentzen (joint 7th).

The season in which Jordan finally come good? Still a hard one to call. Hill and Frentzen are undoubtedly an experienced duo and both have won before, but the Englishman has never been the fastest and the German lacks self-belief and seems to require constant reassurance, if not mollycoddling. What might spur the duo on is a car capable of beating the big boys. The Jordan 199 is less a rethink and more a refinement of a package that by the close of play last season was a hugely impressive machine. Designer Mike Gascoyne has tweaked and tweaked and in last month's testing the Jordan buzzed to within half-a-second of the McLarens. Barring disaster Jordan should be third.

Benetton

Position 1998: 5th.

Drivers: Alexander Wurz (joint 7th), Giancarlo Fisichella (9th).

Something of an enigma. Last year was dismal, with a shoddy car and drivers who couldn't control it. Wurz, who entered the arena so spectacularly in place of Gerhard Berger the previous year, was left looking somewhat gauche as several major shunts took their toll on Benetton's season. Fisichella, too, failed to get to grips with the car and might wish he had fought harder to stay at Jordan. However, the 1999 Benetton is a radical redesign and incorporates an interesting, if somewhat legally dubious, front diff system which could give them some kind of edge, although other gadgetry may let them down. Looking at fifth or sixth.

Sauber

Position 1998: 6th.

Drivers: Jean Alesi (11th), Pedro Diniz (joint 13th).

With last year's Ferrari powerplant bolted to the chassis, Sauber should have the power and stability to give them a definite edge over the chasing pack. It also means they could displace a tumbling Benetton for fifth place. In Alesi they have a driver of exceptional skill especially in the wet - remember the pressure he put on the Jordans at Spain 98 - who is only occasionally let down by hot-headedness. The workmanlike Diniz and the lack of points he may put on the board may be the only bar to Peter Sauber pipping Rocco Benetton but at least he'll make his French team-mate feel comfortable with number one status.

Arrows

Position 1998: 7th.

Drivers: Pedro de la Rosa (did not compete), Toranosuke Takagi (no points).

The troubles just seem to go on and on for Tom Walkinshaw. Still no manufacturer-supplied engine and an ongoing feud with current engine builder Brian Hart. Okay, so the exotically-named Nigerian Prince Malik Ado Ibrahim stepped in with enough cash to allow the team to race this year and they have a sponsorship deal with Repsol, but then there's another legal battle with former driver Pedro Diniz to worry about and then, to top it all, their top driver, Mika Salo, decides to jump ship. As for the drivers? Former Jordan test man De la Rosa and Japan's Toranosuke Takagi. Hardly the pilots of your dreams. The relegation zone looms.

Stewart

Position 1998: 8th.

Drivers: Rubens Barrichello (12th), Johnny Herbert (joint 15th).

The start of interesting times at Stewart as Ford take greater interest and a degree of boardroom control and former Jordan designer Gary Anderson makes his considerable presence felt. The Ulsterman is very much handson and undoubtedly has the know-how and the management tactics to get the best out of Stewart's engineers. He's also reunited with former Jordan protege Barrichello to form a partnership which worked well in the past. Anderson has said both car and engine are good and he expects the season to mark a significant turnaround in the team's fortunes. Whether preseason rhetoric will translate into lower echelon points, only time and a few spinning front runners will tell.

Prost

Position 1998: 9th.

Drivers: Olivier Panis (no points), Jarno Trulli (joint 15th).

From one former champion with the weight of the world on his shoulder to another making Atlas look like a hod carrier. Prost were abysmal last year, marrying a troublesome engine to a hopeless chassis. He's now turned to former Ferrari and Arrows man John Barnard to try to up the ante a little and produce a car that handles a little better than a JCB. The drivers, both of whom are solid if not spectacular, should benefit from better tools. The paymaster of Peugeot will be getting impatient.

Minardi

Position 1998: No points.

Drivers: Marc Gene (did not compete), Luca Badoer (no points).

Perennial backmarkers should keep Arrows from propping up the table, although this year the Italian strugglers seem to have found something extra in the shape of a car that keeps pace with the mid-table Supertec users and in newcomer Marc Gene who up until recently had been working as an accountant in Spain. No miracles expected though.

Bar

Position 1998: Did not compete.

Drivers: Jacques Villeneuve (5th), Ricardo Zonta (did not compete).

Brash new kids on the block have already incurred the wrath of FIA with their dual livery shenanigans (now reduced to a split personality colour scheme) and have also irked a few established teams with their level of disposable income (around £250 million over five years) and the heady pronouncements of principal Craig Pollock. Villeneuve has been more circumspect, professing that he will be happy if the car finishes the first race. And this is the realistic view. Nobody gets it right first time, unless you're Adrian Reynard, the engineer who won the debut race of every series he competed in the US and who happens to be BAR's technical partner. Mid-table mediocrity.

(Drivers' 1998 positions in brackets)

Minardi

Position 1998: No Pints.

Drivers: Marc Gene (did not compete), Luca Badoer (no points).Perennial backmarkers should keep Arrows from propping up the table, although this year the Italian strugglers seem to have found something extra in the shape of a car that keeps pace with the mid-table Supertec users and in newcomer Marc Gene who up until recently had been working as an accountant in Spain. No miracles expected though.