Lewis Hamilton believes it will be like sitting on a time bomb as Formula One steels itself for the re-fuelling ban.

When the five red lights disappear at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain on March 14 to signal the beginning of the new season, potentially 26 cars will hurtle into the first corner, each laden with 160 kilograms of fuel.

That is double the amount a driver has become accustomed to over the years, ensuring a car is far more difficult to handle, adding to the likelihood of an early accident.

The Bahrain Grand Prix will be the first since 1993 not to feature in-race refuelling, and whilst safety standards have considerably improved over the intervening years, there remain concerns.

"We are sitting on a huge rocket, a serious timebomb which could go off anytime," was Hamilton's stark assessment.

"But we all know F1 is a dangerous sport. That is the risk we take, and as a racing driver, that doesn't worry me.

"I will get in the car, go flat out and if it happens, it happens."

World champion Jenson Button, Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren this year, has other worries regarding the amount of fuel on board that equates to 240 litres or 56 gallons.

"Eighty kilograms of fuel could do some damage so it doesn't matter if it's 80 or 160," remarked Button.

"The way the system works, with a cut-off valve, it shouldn't be a problem, but the car is so heavy now.

"It is a lot more difficult and a lot more tough on the brakes."

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber, one of the sport's renowned safety campaigners, is convinced he and his rivals are not putting their lives on the line more than normal.

"In terms of the safety aspects, I think the cars are very safe these days," stated Webber.

"We have a bigger fuel volume, but we have some very good materials to make sure that it is in good shape.

"I hope there has been good research done on things like Robert Kubica's crash in Canada a few years ago now we're carrying an extra 100kg of fuel.

"I hope they've looked at what the result might be in terms of how the fuel cell would survive that impact. Personally, I think it will be fine."

The impact of no re-fuelling has been designed to hopefully improve the show as F1 can often be dull for lengthy periods at a time in a race.

As Webber added: "Those early laps are going to be a bit of a slog, but it will be the same for everyone.

"In terms of the spectacle, strategy and how the races will unfold, I'm not sure what it's going to be like for the people at home."

The hope is, with pit stops limited to simply a change of tyres, it will reduce strategic overtaking as any tactician has previously been able to ascertain when a rival would pit by looking at fuel loads, and so plan accordingly.

Assessing the positive aspects, one of the sport's tactical gurus in Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn said: "It arguably makes qualifying purer because the fastest car/driver combination will be setting the fastest times, and the public can understand that.

"Secondly, in the race itself, overtaking was often being planned and implemented to occur as a consequence of strategy, therefore happening in the pit lane and not the circuit.

"In the absence of that, drivers will have a greater incentive to overtake.

"There have been occasions in the past where a driver hasn't had that incentive because he knows he will be running longer and can get past the car ahead strategically through the pit stops.

"Additionally, there is the fact drivers will qualify on low-fuel, but then the next time they drive the car in anger will be into the first corner from a standing start with cold tyres, cold brakes and 160kg of fuel.

"That will be very challenging, not just in terms of getting round that first corner, but in terms of how they look after their tyres and how the balance of the car will alter as a consequence of that.

"There will be drivers able to deal with those changes better than others."

But as Brawn points out, as with any change there are negatives.

"It's possible if all of the above is managed equally well by every driver, we'll have lost one of the strategic campaign interests the more avid fans enjoyed in the sport," added Brawn.

"Hopefully, the former points will outweigh the latter."