| JAKE HUMPHREY ON THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX Well here we go then, after leaving the Abu Dhabi desert just five short months ago, I'm penning this just 250 miles across the water in Bahrain ahead of 2010's opening blast through the desert.
However, we're not just gearing up for the start of any old F1 season, we're preparing for what, on paper, already looks like being a vintage year.
It's incredible that in a sport where technical advances and tiny, complex regulation changes can make all the difference, it's actually the human stories that have snatched all our focus.
The experiment that is Michael Schumacher. Now 41-years-old, over three years away from the sport and seven world titles already in his back pocket, just how will he fare returning to the sport after such a long hiatus?
Not just physically but mentally - will his quickness of thought still be there? How will he cope taking on drivers born in the 1980s and '90s? Can he return and become world champion yet again?
Many men are standing in his way, not least two British drivers, the two most recent world champions who are now side-by-side in one garage - Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
There could be fireworks at McLaren if past experience of two stars in one team is anything to go by.
Add to the mix the supremely talented and equally confident Fernando Alonso, who is now settled in a Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel keen to remind the world that there is more to German F1 interest than Schumi, and of course the return of Lotus to the Formula One grid.
It's rare that we realise we are either at the start or the midst of a classic season, but in 2010 we're all aware that we're at the heart of something very special indeed.
Jake Humphrey presents the BBC's coverage of the Bahrain Grand Prix on BBC TV. | 
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