In early 2010, reigning champion Jenson Button was joining 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Michael Schumacher's comeback was official, Fernando Alonso was to join Ferrari, leaving Kimi Raikkonen out of the game, four new teams were set to join the grid amid considerable rules changes, and the fate of USF1 was still very much in question.

This year, it's more of the back-end teams making the headlines, as well as Ferrari. The Prancing Horse outfit is certainly ruling the offseason, with team boss Luca di Montezemolo slamming the engine changes slated for 2013 as well as predicting that current champion Sebastian Vettel would be in a Ferrari uniform eventually.

Elsewhere, a few new drivers are set to be in the mix this year. Former reserve driver and latest DTM champion Paul di Resta will be driving for Force India in 2011 alongside Adrian Sutil, according to Swiss newspaper Blick. If accurate, di Resta will be the fifth DTM champion to have also competed in F1, but just the second to do so after having won the German touring car series title. The other was Eric van de Poele, who won the DTM title in 1987 and then raced in Formula One in 1991 and 1992.

The man has strong backing from Vettel, against whom he competed in F3 Euroseries. Vettel actually finished second to di Resta during the 2006 season, so the Scot will certainly be a driver to watch with Force India this season.

Also in the news is that Jerome d'Ambrosio will get an opportunity at Virgin. Long speculated as Lucas di Grassi's replacement, d'Ambrosio has his work cut out for him. Understandably, he finished behind teammate Timo Glock on the time charts in all four of the Friday practice sessions he competed in last year (Singapore, Japan, Korea and Brazil) and his learning curve will no doubt be steep for 2011.

Narain Karthikeyan, a man who last competed in F1 in 2005 for Jordan, also will be making laps this year, this time for HRT. It's rather fitting, as the first Indian in F1 history likely will be racing in the first Formula One event to take place in India. Since 2000, his five-season absence from the grid is the longest among any driver.

Karthikeyan ran a partial Camping World Truck Series schedule this past year in the states, and, therefore, his transition back to Formula One no doubt will be a difficult one. It still pales in comparison to Luca Badoer, however.

The Italian raced for Minardi during the 1999 season, and while frequently a test driver following that stint, he did not compete again until 2009, when he filled in for an injured Felipe Massa. Needless to say, he had a very rough go of it.

Elsewhere, the FIA has officially lifted the restriction on team orders, but one driver has stated that fans should not become too concerned.

Late last year Mark Webber told BBC Radio 5 Live, "People shouldn't get too nervous about it. They're not going to see it every weekend. I think the Ferrari one was pretty brutal and that's as bad as it gets. When you've got two drivers driving for a team and you can swing the results around every now and again to help the team achieve a better result ... it has been done in the past, it's been done up and down the field. I've done it myself at times. I've been on the receiving end of it and done it as well in teams I've driven for in the past."

Whether you're a fan of it or not, team orders always have been a part of Formula One, and last year's debacle involving Ferrari revealed how little the ban actually meant, as the team avoided a truly harsh penalty.