The new cars have all appeared, an array of shiny hopes, some already dulled by the reality of a Barcelona winter and an unforgiving timing beam. In silent isolation in the garage, life support cables plugged in, they are fascinating technological jewels. Out on track they are monsters of raw performance and incredible balance.

But they are created and raced by people, the most intriguing ingredient of all. Creative, industrious, competitive, passionate, cunning people, of all shapes and sizes, each have their special roles to play and it’s such a delicate dance to keep the whole thing spinning at the required pitch; only on the few occasions it goes wrong – such as the disastrous delayed start to the test programme for Williams – do we get a glimpse of that balancing act.

In looking ahead to the 2019 season, we have taken the key human elements of F1  success and expressed them as framed by key personnel, using the top four teams in turn to illustrate them.