Formula 1 is getting ready to hit the reset button as the hectic European schedule gets underway at its traditional first stop, the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.Why is it seen as a reset? Well, Barcelona marks the first race where all the teams will bring major upgrades to their cars having conducted development based on the lessons learnt over the opening two months of the season.That means the pecking order which has emerged in the four races so far could well be turned on its head as the engineers optimise performance.What is guaranteed is Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will continue to lead the way at the front of the grid but even here the competitive order could well change.For the most part, it has been Ferrari leading in terms of pace but gaining performance during a season is often Red Bull's forte and they have a raft of new parts scheduled to be introduced to the RB14 which could really bring them on par with their main rivals.Their drivers, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, will also be desperate to put the embarrassing crash in Azerbaijan firmly in the past and look to make up for it with a strong result in Barcelona.Development isn't necessarily seen as a strength for the Italian team, although they do appear to be pushing through with their own improvements with a striking new look revealed on Thursday with the mirrors now mounted on the controversial Halo.

After seeing race-winning positions dissipate into eighth and fourth place finishes at the last two races, Sebastian Vettel will also be keen to right those perceived wrongs which have left him four points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who scored his first win of this year in Baku.

As for Mercedes, they too will also have new parts but with this being the first time since 2013 that they find themselves seemingly playing catch up it will be interesting to see how they respond.

A new track surface at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has also allowed Pirelli to drastically change their tyre allocation for this race, with the Supersoft, Soft and Medium a far cry from the hard compounds used since 2011.

There is an additional controversy this weekend too, with the Italian supplier seemingly catering to a Mercedes demand to reduce the tread depth on their tyres at certain circuits to try and prevent overheating and blistering, something the German manufacturer struggled with in testing.

Regardless, results so far have not lived up to the form guide with safety cars, incidents and poor luck intervening and Barcelona is known to throw up the odd curveball.

Last year, it produced one of the great battles between Hamilton and Vettel with the world champion benefitting from a pit-stop under the virtual safety car to catch and pass the German for the victory.

A similar scenario is more than likely again this year and Red Bull will be firmly in the mix on a circuit which demands as much from the chassis as it does the engine.

Delving into the midfield and this is where unexpected teams can surprise with big leaps forward in performance.

Renault have been pretty consistent as top 10 runners with Haas, Force India and McLaren consistently the other main challengers for points.

The resources at Renault and McLaren's disposal, however, mean as the year progresses they will likely emerge ahead and that could start at the Spanish GP, particularly with the latter bringing what has been dubbed their "real" 2018 car.

Local hero Fernando Alonso, fresh from a debut win in the WEC at Spa-Francorchamps a week ago, will also be hugely fired up to score a big result in front of his adoring fans.

They key for the British team is whether they can unlock their qualifying pace which has been lacking so far with no Q3 appearances so far.

Force India is another team which often makes big gains when the European season begins and after a strong showing in Baku, they do have momentum on their side as they look to retain their fourth place position of the past two years.

On the contrary, Haas has been known to fall back down the order and after their incredibly strong start in Australia, there is great disappointment they haven't achieved more until now.

Given the scale of the problems Williams has faced so far in 2018, it would be incredible for them to turn it around with just one upgrade package in Barcelona.

But, with third driver Robert Kubica set to test the new parts in practice and a team that certainly knows how to turn their fortunes around, they could be the ones that surprise the most.

The one team missing from this equation is Sauber who scored points for the second time this year thanks to Charles Leclerc in Baku.

Since then, however, they have lost chief designer Jorg Zander in an "awkward" departure and it remains to be seen if the Swiss outfit has the ability to maintain the level of development of those around them.

For the remainder of the 2018 season, GiveMeSport has got involved with the new official fantasy game on Formula1.com by setting up our own league for readers to compare their management skills against us writers.

Simply search 'GiveMeSport F1 League' in the public leagues section to join.

Your team consists of five drivers and one team with a budget of $80m with points given or lost in a number of categories.

Three drivers this writer would recommend would include Valtteri Bottas, who has been performing strongly in recent races and has been very unlucky not to win.

Max Verstappen, as the Dutchman is due to put the mistakes that have blighted his year to date behind him and what better place to start than where he won his first F1 race in 2016.

And Carlos Sainz with the Spanish Renault driver having a strong record in Barcelona and in a car more than capable of achieving a top 10 result.