It may be somewhat premature to make predictions about the outcome of the 2016 F1 season, but when has that ever stopped me before?
When the 2016 calendar was announced - the longest in the sport's history, with 21 rounds - all of the focus was on the physical pressures of the gruelling schedule. As a member of the travelling circus who arrived in Bahrain already feeling Suzuka levels of exhaustion, I can certainly attest to the fact that everyone in the paddock will be zombie-like by the time the season comes to an end in Abu Dhabi.
But perhaps the big calendar story is less the length of the schedule than the configuration of the races.
Traditionally, F1 moves from the Australian season-opener to the tropical climes of Malaysia, before heading on to slightly cooler China and then back to warm Bahrain. This year, however, the calendar is weighted slightly differently, with the bulk of the season's hot races coming in the run to the finale.
As we have seen in recent seasons, Ferrari tend to perform better in warmer conditions. Last year, the Scuderia's Sepang victory gave us hope in the early part of the season that there were challenging races ahead. We were teased with the prospect of a closer-fought season than the one we eventually experienced.
This year, however, the pack is considerably closer than it was in 2015. While the bulk of the fighting is going to take place in the mid-field, with several teams currently in prime position to duke it out for third in the constructors' battle, the fight between Ferrari and Mercedes is also going to be close-fought. Before qualifying got underway in Bahrain, there were those in the Mercedes camp who confessed off the record that they were worried by the prancing horses' pace, and that a front row lock-out for the Silver Arrows was by no means guaranteed.
Of course, as the events of Saturday evening showed, Mercedes had nothing to worry about in Bahrain as far as pace was concerned. The front row lock-out was secured, with Ferrari just behind.
As we saw in Australia, however, Ferraris on the second row can present a clear and present danger to Mercedes' hopes of a third consecutive championship. In race trim, Sebastian Vettel is more than capable of setting the cat among the pigeons, and that at two cooler circuits (at night desert temperatures fall faster than Naomi Campbell in a pair of Vivienne Westwood platform heels).
So if Ferrari can keep Mercedes in its sights during this relatively cool early-season run of fly-aways, and then maintain their position through a European summer likely to see grey and grim weather at Silverstone, Spa, and possibly Germany and Hungary as well, then the Scuderia should be in a position to shake things up when the sun shines on the run to the season finale.
Singapore is always a scorcher, and Sepang is hardly known for inclement weather. Even when it rains, the wet stuff falling from the sky is warm and the track goes more steamy than slippy. After Asia there's the prospect of more scorchers in Mexico and Brazil, while Abu Dhabi is another warm one, even when the cooler evening temperatures are taken into account.
From the outside it appears that Ferrari's best chances of success are all packed together at the back end of the calendar. Could the Scuderia take advantage of their pace in the heat to steal the title from under Mercedes' nose at the end of the season?
Only time will tell, of course, but it's certainly something to think about...