Sebastian Vettel has a habit of giving his beloved racing cars names. On the eve of the opening race of the new F1 season he revealed that his new mount is called Abbey. That follows on the heels of Kinky Kylie, with whom he won the championship last year. Luscious Liz brought him the 2010 title and Kate is remembered as his first love at Red Bull Racing. Is this an unsusual practice among drivers? Perhaps not, but Vettel is clearly proud of the cars that he drives.

Although Vettel is a huge fan of English culture he said that the name is not a reference to either the Beatles' Abbey Road or to the old chicane on the Silverstone circuit. "It's just a cool name," the two-time champion driver said. Vettel, only 24, will try to be the third driver in the history of the sport to win three titles in a row and join the ranks of greats such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. However, analysts predict that this year his task is going to be more difficult than ever. In addition to Vettel, five other F1 world champions will be on the grid, three of whom are in top teams - Hamilton, Button and Alonso.

Two others, Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, are both with teams that may end up surprising everyone with their cars. "This season looks like a stellar year for Formula One with six world champions. It's unprecedented," said Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal to the telegraph.co.uk. "The quality of the field is phenomenal. I think it's going to be a really exciting season."