Formula 1 bursts back into action next weekend, and the latest Flat Chat podcast from GP Racing magazine digs into what’s likely to be an unexpectedly spicy season.

GP Racing editor Ben Anderson and columnist Mark Gallagher join host Stuart Codling to debate whether Red Bull’s punchy performance during the Bahrain test is all that it seems. Is Mercedes really on the back foot? What version of Valtteri Bottas are we on? Can new Red Bull recruit Sergio Perez succeed where Max Verstappen’s most recent team-mates have failed? And will Honda finally win a world championship while still in it?

This month’s GP Racing also analyses what’s going on in a midfield that’s been subject to remarkable change, with two teams rolling out entire new identities. Having compared Aston Martin’s launch with the infamous 1989 Brit Awards, our panel wonders whether the rebranded team will deliver a better script once it hits the track in anger. After the first test that’s still very much open to question…

In the magazine Mark Gallagher describes Alpine’s plan for the next few seasons as Lazarus, The Repair Shop and Spartacus all rolled into one. New recruit Davide Brivio will be key to ensuring this happens on-track and our panel assesses how he will fit in with a long-established technical operation at Enstone and the expectations of the team’s returning star Fernando Alonso.

The team also share some personal recollections of the late Murray Walker, a longtime friend of the magazine as well as an occasional cover star – and a much-loved columnist until he finally set aside his typewriter at the age of 92.