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It is a tough job predicting the podium and points places for but someone has got to do it, and the task has fallen to me.

The , and the emergence of the cast the competition wide open before the cars hit the track.

in Melbourne and after months of suspense we can get some indication as to form - or lack of it.

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So which current driver's getting this big build-up for the new season? "He's one of the most naturally talented racing drivers you've ever seen. More so than , more so than ."

Aha, , you say. When I tell you that the compliment came from a former McLaren insider, you may want to revise that answer. But keep the Alonso name in mind.

Red Bull's rising star ? No. BMW Sauber's highly rated ? No. The answer is .

Given the Finn's fall from grace after his 2007 championship success, you can understand why Alonso is relevant.

Raikkonen can inspire and infuriate in equal measure, inside and outside Ferrari, and his performances last season reflect the arguments which bedevil the team's current pairing of Raikkonen with .

The two of them are not strong enough, the doubters say, to match the gold standard set by Michael Schumacher. His successors suffer from too many limitations which Alonso, for example, does not share.

Alonso to Ferrari has become a familiar storyline, with the strongest - and very credible - report last Christmas in the much respected Italian paper, , that the Spaniard had already struck a deal to join Ferrari in 2011 - with an option for 2010 should a vacancy arise.

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