As is usual at this time of year, everyone is full of optimism, convinced that they've done the best job and got their sums right.
Of course, this year everyone has the benefit of the doubt. The engine capacity change from three litres V10 to 2.4l V8 has really thrown a spanner in the works, while the tyre war is being run to completely different rules to that of 2005. Those factors alone ensure that it really is impossible to say how things will work out over the course of a 19-race season, and even those hot, early races with unproven machinery won't tell the full story.
One of the final pieces of the puzzle comes to focus this week, when the Williams-Cosworth FW28 is unveiled at Grove. That car name and designation has a familiar ring to it, and one half expects to see the name Carlos Reutemann on the side. But we will of course see the name Rosberg, as Nico follows in father Keke's footsteps exactly 20 years after he left.
The Williams team of this season will be very different from the one we've grown used to. Frank Williams is now paying for his Cosworth engines, but on the other hand the weight of expectations created by the stressful years with BMW has been lifted. You might even say that the Williams team have been reborn as everybody's favourite underdog, eager to snap at the heels of the factory teams.