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This Sunday, 14 March, the first Formula 1 World Championship race of the season will be held in the island state of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. The world championship is the most widely covered motor-racing competition in the world and is followed by hundreds of millions of viewers.

Twenty-four drivers (two from each of the teams taking part) will line up on the starting grid in one of the most open and interesting world championships of recent years.

Ferrari, the most legendary racing team, has signed the Spanish twice world champion Fernando Alonso, who will drive alongside the Brazilian Felipe Massa, the 2008 runner-up. Jenson Button, the reigning champion, has joined McLaren, where his teammate will be fellow Englishman Lewis Hamilton, who, in 2008, aged 22, became the youngest champion in the history of Formula 1.

However, the biggest item of news this year is the return of the German driver Michael Schumacher, one of the great Formula 1 legends, who retired from the sport three years ago.

Added to this is the new rule banning the refuelling of cars during the race. Drivers will be able to stop to change tyres, but not to fill their fuel tanks.