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Motor racing-Team prospects for 2015 Formula One season

By Alan Baldwin LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Formula One season starts in Melbourne on March 15 with the Australian Grand Prix. The following details the team prospects (listed in 2014 championship order. Prefix numbers are those the drivers will have on their cars): - - - - MERCEDES 44-Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 6-Nico Rosberg (Germany) Hamilton starts the season as favourite for a third championship, with Rosberg again his main rival. Champions Mercedes look the team to beat again, and their car seems both reliable and quick with others playing catch-up. Managing the two drivers in the heat of battle could be their biggest difficulty. - RED BULL 3-Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 26-Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Ricciardo had a breakthrough 2014 season with three wins and is now team leader after Sebastian Vettel's departure to Ferrari. Renault have improved their power unit, with Red Bull now their main focus but star designer Adrian Newey is more occupied with other interests. Kvyat moves up from Toro Rosso and will be looking for his first win and to pressure Ricciardo. Holding on to second place may be the best they can hope for. - WILLIAMS 19-Felipe Massa (Brazil) 77-Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Could be challenging for win and tipped by many as likely closest rivals to Mercedes, who provide the team's power units. Expect Bottas to be challenging for a first win, Massa to continue his strong 2014 form. - FERRARI 5-Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 7-Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Big changes at Maranello, with ex-president Luca di Montezemolo and Spain's Fernando Alonso gone. Former Marlboro man Maurizio Arrivabene is now principal, with Vettel arriving from Red Bull at what could be just the right time. Last year the team failed to win a race for the first time since 1993. Two wins would hit the target, three would be surprising. - MCLAREN 14-Fernando Alonso (Spain) 22-Jenson Button (Britain) Alonso will miss Australia on doctors' orders due to his testing crash. Some suspect he will not miss much, with the 2015 McLaren struggling to put laps together in testing with new engine partners Honda. Likely to be a difficult year with plenty of catching up to do. McLaren have not won a grand prix since 2012. It may be a while yet before they can celebrate. - FORCE INDIA 27-Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) 11-Sergio Perez (Mexico) Short on cash and with a new car that did only three days of pre-season testing. Unlikely to be very competitive at the start, despite having a Mercedes engine. Could struggle to retain their sixth place overall. Finances will be a worry. - TORO ROSSO 33-Max Verstappen (Netherlands) 55-Carlos Sainz (Spain) Verstappen, 17, is the youngest ever driver while Toro Rosso have the youngest combined age of 37. The team have set a target of fifth place in the championship, which does not look impossible given McLaren's problems. - LOTUS 8-Romain Grosjean (France) 13-Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) A vastly better car than last year's has revived the team's confidence after a difficult 2014. The team have switched from Renault to Mercedes power units, which has made a big difference. A return to the podium will be the target. - MARUSSIA 46-Will Stevens (Britain) Stevens has yet to obtain his super licence despite competing in Abu Dhabi with Caterham as a one-off last season after they had been put into administration. The second driver has yet to be named. The car is a tweaked 2014 one, with an old Ferrari engine, to meet new regulations. New ownership should make them more secure but funds are still tight. - SAUBER 9-Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) 12-Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Failed to score a point last year in a dismal season, with a completely new and well-funded driver line-up now in place. The car has done a lot of laps in testing which is a good sign but money is in short supply. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)