Formula 1 podcast: Ahead of the new season, biggest talking points likely to make headlines in 2018

With the Australian Grand Prix less than a fortnight away, Kunal Shah and Mithila Mehta discuss some key questions that will be answered through the 2018 Formula 1 season. [caption id=“attachment_4390195” align=“alignleft” width=“381”] Fernando Alonso of McLaren during pre-season testing at Barcelona. Reuters[/caption] On this week’s episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast — apart from the usual questions around Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing — we wonder if Kimi Raikkonen knows the cost of a litre of vodka. Like Raikkonen, we believe that we will only know where the teams and drivers stand only in Australia. Till then, it’s all speculation. Will there be a three-way battle for the title in 2018 or can Mercedes win their fifth consecutive title? And are Haas the dark horses for the upcoming season? We talk about all these pressing questions and more. Where will McLaren be in 2018? Hopefully not at the Honda headquarters in Japan! We believe that for McLaren to be a force to reckon with in Formula 1, they should build their own engines. Also, we discuss if the art of rolling restarts will be lost to drivers and Formula 1 and if Renault is explaining their drivers and customer teams the ‘returns on penalty’ equation as they prepare to use four power units this season. Tune in to listen to the full podcast: The Inside Line F1 Podcast is available on  iTunes or  audioBoom for more news and interviews.