There are only 10 days to go before the Formula One motor racing season begins, with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. But pre-race nerves this year are afflicting the sport as a whole as much as the drivers themselves.

The pressure is coming from two sides. On the one, F1’s biggest sponsors – notably struggling financial groups such as Royal Bank of Scotland and ING – are backing away from long-standing financial support in an attempt to cut costs and disassociate themselves from the sport’s image of lavish spending.