Five races in, F1′s cleverest brains are still yet to decode the mystery of the bizarre and fascinating 2012 season.

As was the case when he utterly dominated last year, Sebastian Vettel is still leading the drivers’ points chase.

But, before last weekend, if he had been told that Williams’ Pastor Maldonado would be the winner of the Spanish grand prix, the German admitted: “Well, I would have put a lot of money on them!

“I think the odds weren’t bad,” he smiled.

Indeed, the major British bookmaker William Hill was taking bets at 500-1 prior to the Barcelona weekend.

A spokesman confirmed that only two bets at 10 pounds or above were placed on Maldonado prior to qualifying.

“I’m sure Williams don’t understand why they just won the race here,” McLaren’s Jenson Button is quoted by the Guardian newspaper.

But the previously-derided ‘pay driver’ Maldonado is not the only potential new winner in 2012, after Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Vettel won the opening four grands prix.

A detailed look at F1′s specialist reporting in the past few weeks shows that Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Michael Schumacher, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi are all also widely regarded as genuine victory candidates in 2012.

And given that their teammates have won grands prix this season, even the struggling Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna should be added to that list.

“Dammit, let’s go for (HRT’s) Karthikeyan!” wrote Chris Hockley in the Sun newspaper.

“It’s really quite crazy right now,” Vettel, who despite his young age would count himself among F1′s currently perplexed purists, told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“What’s happening is difficult for us to explain,” he added.

The situation has split the F1 audience, with the purists shaking their heads, and others marvelling at the unprecedented spectacle.

“The spectacle has taken over the sport,” said the Paris daily Le Figaro.

“Even the teams can’t be sure who will be the hare and who will be the tortoise at any given track,” wrote Hockley.

Alonso, who is the joint championship leader, is in the purists’ camp.

“Of course it is attractive for the spectators that we are going to Monaco not knowing if we will fight for victory or be left out of the points,” he is quoted by El Pais.

“But in a way, after eleven years in formula one and now I’m at Ferrari, I would like to have more stability,” the Spaniard admitted.

Sir Jackie Stewart said: “What’s going on is unbelievable, which I think is the outcome of the new rules, new tyres — I think it’s many factors,” he told the Spanish sports daily AS.

“What’s happening,” said Maldonado’s race engineer Xevi Pujolar, “is that these tyres are allowing teams who do not have the biggest budgets to be eligible for really good results.

“The reason is that the most important thing now is to have a good setup and also some luck with the temperature.”

Pirelli, F1′s tyre maker, has received both criticism and praise for its huge role.

“Pirelli have been both bold and brave,” Sun journalist Hockley said. “It can’t be easy for a manufacturer to make tyres that sometimes wear out faster than you can say Mercedes.”

Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian marque’s company chief, is unapologetic.

“What we have provided is what the teams have asked for, and it was not easy,” Italian language reports quote him saying. “Our engineers have done an extraordinary thing.”

With the F1 world now returned from Bahrain, the sport is assessing the fallout of one of the most controversial grands prix in history.

The drivers were conspicuously quiet over the saga in the island Kingdom, but – with no contract tying him down – former Force India driver Adrian Sutil admitted he was glad he was not there.

“In a situation like that, it is probably better not to go,” the German said on Sky Deutschland.

“On the one hand, the decision was made (to go to Bahrain), on the other hand, it’s very difficult when there are so many problems in a country.”

Red Bull reserve driver Sebastien Buemi, who has family living in Bahrain, does not agree at all.

“I arrived on Monday and I had no problem — maybe there were a few more police than two years ago, but nothing happened to me,” the Swiss insisted on Austrian Servus TV.

Force India and Sauber, however, witnessed Molotov cocktail attacks on their treks to and from the circuit.

And Caterham team spokesman Tom Webb told the Sun that there was “one minor incident when one of our (hire) vans slowed down in traffic and its occupants saw a local youth on the side of the main road brandishing a bottle with a rag stuffed in its neck”.

World champion and race winner Sebastian Vettel also admitted the feeling was tense in the paddock throughout the weekend.

“It was not easy for anyone,” the Red Bull driver admitted, according to SID news agency, “but I’m glad that nothing happened to any of us (in F1).”

And the Telegraph quotes Vettel adding: “Hopefully, we come back in the future when everything’s a little bit safer.”

Reuters reports that Vodafone, the main sponsor of the half Bahrain-owned McLaren team, sent no staff to the country and expressed concerns to the British outfit.

But Jim Wright, an F1 sponsorship expert, told the Guardian that he thinks while the sport’s image took a beating last weekend, sponsors will be happy.

“Most teams handled a difficult decision very well,” he said. “On that basis I think a lot of people would be pleased with that and happy to get involved with them.”

The television audience was also unaffected – even boosted – with the BBC reporting more viewers for Bahrain than Australia and Malaysia, and Germany revealing similarly strong figures.

Still, there remains criticism.

“Now is an opportunity to reflect,” former F1 driver Alex Zanardi told Tuttosport, “and make sure that major sporting events are assigned only to governments that deserve the honour of hosting them.

“Ecclestone is brilliant and has made formula one what it is, but he can’t administer races at any cost and above all else,” insisted the Italian.

Due to security fears, Force India sat out a practice session on Friday so that staff could return to their hotels in daylight.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was reportedly enraged, and according to rumours got his revenge by instructing Formula One Management’s television cameras to ignore the Silverstone based team’s cars in qualifying.

“There was a bit of fuss about what we did,” deputy team principal Bob Fernley is quoted by Spain’s AS newspaper, “and it was not easy, but I think it turned out to be the right response.

“We had a lot of pressure, our attitude was not well received,” he confirmed, “but I think that we had a duty of care to our employees, and to do the right thing by the team.”

Force India deputy boss Bob Fernley has dismissed reports the Silverstone based team could pull out of the controversial Bahrain grand prix.

Two members of the team were allowed to return to Europe this week following a Molotov cocktail attack en route from the Sakhir circuit to the hotel.

There were high-level meetings involving Force India on Thursday, sparking speculation the entire team could follow its frightened members back to the UK.

But Fernley, admitting that security has been ramped up after the incident, is quoted by Express newspaper: “We are definitely taking part, that is decided.”

Bahrain’s information affairs authority also released a statement featuring quotes by Bernie Ecclestone.

“I have no knowledge of any teams planning to withdraw from the race and we are all looking forward to racing in Bahrain,” the F1 chief executive said.

According to Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary, however, another incident like the one involving Force India this week could force F1 to change its decision to go ahead with the race.

“If that happened again and someone was injured then that’s the nightmare scenario for organisers as it might push the teams over the edge,” he said.

Many drivers, like Kimi Raikkonen, have said the situation is normal this weekend in Bahrain, but Cary does not agree.

“Normally there would be PR events in town, you know, ‘meet the fans’ and that sort of thing but certainly as far as I’m aware there aren’t any of those happening,” he said.

World champion Sebastian Vettel said he will be happy when track action begins on Friday.

“I think it’s not a big problem,” the German said when asked about the security situation this weekend, “and I’m happy once we start testing tomorrow because then we worry about the stuff that really matters — tyre temperatures, cars.”

Earlier, Vitaly Petrov’s manager indicated the Russian would only travel to Bahrain if F1 could guarantee his safety.

“If it was dangerous they wouldn’t let us in,” the Caterham driver told The National in Bahrain.

“If they make sure nothing gets thrown onto that track to hurt us, then we’ll be fine. We are here; if it happens, it happens,” added Petrov.

In fact, almost everyone in Bahrain has been reluctant to comment in detail, but there is an obvious feeling of unease.

Peter Sauber told Blick newspaper: “I feel like a guest, and so it is not polite to criticise your host.”

But 1996 world champion Damon Hill allowed himself some criticism of F1, including the sport’s most powerful figures, Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt.

He pointed out that FIA president Todt has said “next to nothing” about the Bahrain saga.

“This I find baffling,” Hill wrote in the Guardian. “Surely it is possible to condemn acts of inhumanity without taking a side?”

As for F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who has consistently trivialised the Bahrain issue, Hill noted that “few” in the paddock “dare to publicly disagree” with the imperious 81-year-old.

“Perhaps we should (criticise him), instead of just muttering under our breath, scared of losing our passes,” said Hill.

Hermann Tilke, the German architect who designed the Sakhir circuit, sees the entire saga as a storm in a teacup.

“It is safe in Bahrain,” Tilke, whose company has an office there, told the Kolner Express newspaper. “I’ve never heard about any problems from our people.

“Of course there is some unrest, but it is protests, not civil war. As Bernie Ecclestone has said, we do sports, not politics,” he insisted.

“And if they demonstrate peacefully now, the media will report on it, so both sides benefit.”

With F1 currently scheduled to arrive en masse in Bahrain next week, a crisis surrounding the possible cancellation of the island Kingdom’s race is continuing to deepen.

The teams have now denied Bernie Ecclestone’s claim that they can simply choose to skip the event.

“That would not be possible,” said a statement issued by the teams association FOTA. “Teams are unable to cancel (a) grand prix.”

Bahrain, meanwhile, stepped up its campaign, accusing some of deploying “scare-mongering tactics” designed to force the race’s cancellation.

The race organisers released a report conducted by Lotus, following the Enstone based team’s recent reconnaissance mission to Bahrain.

“We came away from Bahrain feeling a lot more confident that everything is in hand,” Lotus is quoted as having reported.

The team, however, reacted angrily, accusing the organisers of having released a “confidential” document.

“Lotus F1 Team is one of 12 contestants of the … world championship and we would never try to substitute ourselves for the FIA”, said the Enstone based team.

Surmised Times correspondent Kevin Eason on Twitter: “(It’s) getting messy…”

At the same time, F1 chief executive Ecclestone became fully immersed in the political situation on Tuesday, reporteding personally phoning Bahrain’s crown prince to express concern about the jailed hunger striker.

An Amnesty International report published this week had called for Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s release, amid claims he is now close to death and being force-fed.

But the Bahrain government, through its information affairs authority, insisted that only police and rioters are being injured in “infrequent and remote clashes”.

Also weighing into the argument was Sir Jackie Stewart, the eloquent triple world champion, who said: “I would go.

“The commercial rights holder has sold a package, at a price, and it is part of the constructors’ agreement that they attend the races that have been published,” he told the Guardian.

“As a team owner I would have to honour my agreement both orally and legally.”

Whatever happens, the Bahrain saga – stretching back now over a year – is not good news for the future of the island Kingdom’s calendar spot.

“Maybe we wouldn’t renew it (the contract),” Ecclestone admitted to the BBC. “We’ll have to look and see.”

A formula one team boss has admitted he hopes the forthcoming Bahrain grand prix is called off.

The Times newspaper is reporting that every team is devising contingency plans for the possibility that this month’s race in the troubled island Kingdom might not go ahead.

“I feel very uncomfortable about going to Bahrain,” one team boss, described as a “leading” member of the F1 paddock and with representative views, told the Guardian.

“We’re all hoping the FIA calls it off,” he admitted.

“It seems to me that while there has been some political progress in Bahrain they’re not quite ready.  The best thing would be for the race to be postponed until later in the year, or even cancelled.”

Ultimately, the decision will be made by the FIA, and a spokesman for the governing body has now admitted it is “constantly monitoring and evaluating the situation” in Bahrain.

Interestingly, the Guardian said FIA president Jean Todt will be in China this weekend.  The teams are currently scheduled to travel directly from China to Bahrain for the second leg of a back-to-back double header.

Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of Bahrain’s circuit, sounds confident.

“The FIA and Bernie (Ecclestone) have never shown any doubts about our race,” he told The National.

“I do see there is fear, but I just wish such people would listen to those who have the information — maybe not us, because we as a circuit are perhaps not perceived as an objective voice, but there are other people who know the region and know the situation and they are saying that this race should go ahead.”

Damon Hill has changed his mind yet again on the controversial issue of Bahrain’s return to formula one later this month.

Amid the debate about the island Kingdom’s return to the calendar in the wake of the cancelled 2011 event, the 1996 world champion said initially: “F1 must align itself with progression, not repression”.

But he changed his tune after travelling with FIA president Jean Todt to Bahrain, insisting the situation on the ground had changed since the 2011 protests.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race,” said Hill.

But the Briton has now changed his mind again, apparently after the latest reports of violence on the streets and the reaction in the international media.

Hill is quoted by the Guardian newspaper: “It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for formula one, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race.

“Looking at it today you’d have to say that (the race) could be creating more problems than it’s solving.”

The former Williams driver is scheduled to attend this month’s Bahrain grand prix as a television analyst, but Hill brushed aside any thoughts about his lucrative contract with the British broadcaster Sky.

“Some things are more important than contracts.”

He also expressed misgivings about a recent media briefing in London, in which Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses stood with the Bahrain organisers and insisted the race is going ahead despite the continuing controversy.

Damon said that event was “troubling insofar as it tried to represent the rioting in Bahrain as the result of bad press reporting and as a ‘youth’ issue.

“I hope the FIA are considering the implications of this fully and that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing molotov cocktails, because that’s a gross simplification.”

Writing in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio admitted he thinks it would be “almost reckless” for F1 to travel to Bahrain this month.

“At Sepang,” he wrote, “many team members were very concerned. They said their insurance companies had expressed concern about going to an Arab country in a belligerent state.

“Personally, I don’t think we will be attacked, but it is the goal of the protesters to do anything so that the grand prix is not run.

“The Arab Spring is very much alive in this small country in the Persian Gulf,” he admitted.

And the Times of London’s Kevin Eason wrote on Twitter: “I have been thinking F1 should give Bahrain a chance but I am not convinced now that safety can be guaranteed.”

Years after F1′s ‘spygate’ sagas, the issue could be set to return to the very top of the governing body’s agenda.

Force India claims Caterham and their common former wind tunnel partner Aerolab were this week “found liable” by a British court of using Force India data for the Team Lotus car of early 2010.

Vijay Mallya’s Silverstone based team said the ruling has been “referred for the consideration” of the FIA.

But Aerolab has hit back, insisting the judge “entirely rejected” Force India’s charge of “systematic copying”.

“On the contrary, such misuse as I have found to have occurred mainly consisted of opportunistic copying of CAD files by CAD designers in order to take a short cut,” the wind tunnel company quoted judge Justice Arnold as saying.

Nonetheless, Caterham was ordered to pay EUR 25,000 to Force India, but not the 18 million requested by the team.

“We were deeply disappointed with the damages award,” Force India deputy team principal Robert Fernley told the Guardian.

He said Caterham/Aerolab did not make a simple “short cut” in copying the CAD files, but copied “front and rear break duct systems, the front wing, the rear wing, the barge boards, the vortex generators and the diffuser”.

“The judge might say it’s not systematic but in my view it’s pretty extensive,” added Fernley.

Force India is expected to appeal.

And if the FIA intervenes and charges Caterham with theft, “it would cost Caterham tens of millions for the money they received for finishing tenth in the world championship for the past two years”, wrote Guardian correspondent Paul Weaver.

“And that is before any fine.”

 The BBC’s delayed and edited highlights of Sunday’s Australian grand prix attracted more viewers than the British broadcaster’s live coverage of the same Melbourne race a year ago.
From 2012, F1′s television coverage for Britain is being shared between pay-channel Sky – who have the full-time live rights – and the public broadcaster BBC.

Last year, the BBC’s live coverage of the 2011 season opener averaged 2.13 million viewers.

But the delayed highlights package for 2012, aired hours after the race finished between 2 and 4pm, attracted 2.7 million viewers.

The figures may, however, be a one-off, with Australia usually among the lowest-rating races in Europe due to the very early morning live timeslot.

Sky’s live coverage of the pay-channel’s 2012 coverage, meanwhile, averaged just 526,000 viewers.

A spokesman for the channel refused to comment on whether Sky was disappointed with the figures.

“It is the performance of the whole (F1) channel we are interested in. We are pleased with the launch of the channel overall,” he told the Guardian.

Eight of F1′s 12 teams are based in Britain.

 Pat Fry, Ferrari’s technical director, thinks Red Bull remains clearly ahead of the F1 field.
There is lots of talk that the reigning champion team is now closely matched by McLaren, with a big chasing group nipping at the heels headed by Mercedes.

But Briton Fry told the Guardian newspaper: “I think Red Bull are ahead of the rest at the moment. Maybe half a second.

“We’re guessing about fuel levels used in testing but I would say Red Bull are between five and seven tenths ahead of everyone else.”

Fry recently wrote off Ferrari’s chances of a podium this weekend in Melbourne, but – at least in the most recent hours – drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso are sounding more positive.

“At the moment we don’t know who is fast and who is not,” insisted Alonso, according to Marca. “Don’t pay much attention to what is said.

“We are not even going to know anything until Malaysia — a normal circuit.”

HRT’s Pedro de la Rosa, at least, is daring a prediction.

“Maybe (Sebastian) Vettel will win again, but if he does, he will have more sweat on his shirt,” the Spaniard is quoted by EFE agency.

As for Ferrari’s apparent problems, de la Rosa commented: “All I know is what I read, but think about how much time has passed since the last test.

“Two or three weeks in formula one is a world.”

F1 could be set to get some new shareholders, amid reports the collapsed US bank Lehman Brothers wants to sell its stake within two years.
The bank, which is being wound up to pay back creditors, still holds a 15 per cent stake in the majority CVC-owned holding company Delta Topco, which the Guardian newspaper said is valued at about $1.5 billion.

Lehman Brothers became a F1 shareholder in 2002, when the German media company Kirch defaulted on a loan.

They are the reigning back-to-back world champions and the favourites heading into 2012, but Sebastian Vettel has admitted Red Bull is not perfect.
“Yes, last year was nearly faultless”, the German is quoted by the Guardian newspaper.

But he admits he made mistakes.

“Fridays have been poor,” said the world champion. “I made mistakes. I crashed the car.”

Dr Helmut Marko elaborated: “He threw the car away four times unnecessarily.”

Vettel, 24, continued: “We got the concentration back when it mattered but on Fridays you only have a couple of hours to prepare the car — so we can improve on that.

“We had a meeting in January and went over the things that we need to do better and you would be surprised. It was a long list. There were lots of points to improve.”

Even heading into the fresh 2012 season, there are already new items on that list: Marko bluntly described the final day of pre-season testing, when Vettel did a paltry 23 laps and was dead-last, as “shit”.

But amid rumours the team might have to scrap its Melbourne update package for now, the Austrian insists Red Bull collected “sufficient” data from Mark Webber’s work last Saturday.

“We had three very good tests, but not perfect,” Vettel admitted to RMC. “Sure, there were a few pieces here and there that worked less well than expected, but overall there were not too many surprises.

“I feel good with the car, it (Sunday) was no big deal.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button, however – runner-up to Vettel last season – is keen to ensure Red Bull feels as much pressure as possible heading into 2012.

“In the last two years we weren’t able to (apply pressure) all that often,” he is quoted by the Koln Express, “but I think this year will be different.

“I want to see how they are when they are feeling that pressure,” the Briton added.

Jenson Button has tipped Ferrari to recover, after the famous Italian team announced it does not initially expect to be a podium contender in 2012.
Paddock insiders are tipping a close three-way battle between Red Bull, McLaren and possibly Mercedes early this season, as Ferrari apparently flounders with its complex F2012.

But McLaren’s Button said: “I’m sure Ferrari can find their way out of a sticky situation — if they’re in a sticky situation.

“We’re all trying new things at the start of the year. One of us will get it right and I’m sure the others will follow suit in the end,” he told the Guardian.

“They’re obviously on the back foot but I’m sure they’ll catch up.”

Despite an almost unprecedented media muzzle, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso broke his enforced silence last weekend to admit by way of analogy that his 2012 car is not in top Barcelona football players’ Messi and Iniesta’s league at present.

But the Spaniard also pointed out that while the press is making a fuss about Ferrari’s troubles, the immense pressure on Ferrari is unique.

“For example yesterday (Sunday at Barcelona) Red Bull had only a few laps and the last time on the sheet,” Alonso reportedly told Ferrari staff at Maranello.

“If something similar had happened to us, hell would have broken loose, but here (in Italy) nobody really noticed it.”

Alonso does not think he will be pushing for the Melbourne win next weekend, but he also insisted: “What counts is not to be first in the first race, but in November, at the end of the championship.”

At the front of the field in 2012, before a single racing lap has even turned, the well-known formula one arms-race has already begun.
As the last days of pre-Melbourne testing are counted down in Barcelona, Red Bull and McLaren unveiled major evolutions to their recently-launched new cars.

On the RB8, the major difference was the Sauber-style exhaust, after designer Adrian Newey was reportedly “impressed” with the 2012 solution devised by the Swiss midfield team.

“It’s effectively a completely new (Red Bull) car,” said the BBC’s technical analyst Gary Anderson, according to the Guardian.

The high-profile Red Bull upgrade was the perfect time for McLaren to quietly unveil its own heavily modified car, Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reported.

“Did you see that McLaren have rebuilt half their car?” Force India technical director Andrew Green is quoted as saying.

One new innovation on the MP4-27, apparently, is a Mercedes-like front wing W-duct.

“The upgrade is a major step forward; better than we expected,” said Jenson Button.

Elsewhere, the noises are not so positive: Ferrari stridently denied internet rumours Felipe Massa has been sacked, and then gagged both the Brazilian and his teammate Fernando Alonso from speaking to the media.

“The decision has been taken to keep the whole team fully focused on the job and there is not any polemic intent behind it,” the team insisted.

But while happily listing Red Bull’s likely contenders for 2012, Mark Webber admitted Ferrari’s form remains a “mystery”.

Even less is known about those at the rear of the grid, with Marussia and HRT still yet to launch their 2012 cars.

The Spanish team has sought permission at late notice to do a “filming day” with its new machine in Barcelona on Monday, while Marussia wants to run at Silverstone in the coming days.

At Marussia, the hold-up was caused by the FIA’s more stringent than ever crash tests.

“We’re going to make sure we get it right this time,” team boss John Booth told the BBC.

 With the 2012 season now just weeks away, the most serious doubts yet about April’s returning Bahrain grand prix have emerged.
Reports claim that, on the eve of the one year anniversary of the bloody ‘Day of Rage’ protests that led to the cancellation of the race and test in early 2011, violent clashes involving tear gas-firing police have broken out.

“Formula one is monitoring events there”, a report in the Guardian newspaper said.

“Formula one’s governing body is keeping a low profile because it doesn’t want to be part of the mounting pressure and speculation,” added journalist Paul Weaver.

International news agencies including Reuters and the Associated Press reported this week’s clashes involve protesters trying to reoccupy the symbolic scenes of the 2011 violence.

“Traffic came to a standstill on the main thoroughfare into the capital (Manama), and teargas canisters, rubber pellets and rocks littered the highway,” said Reuters, adding that elsewhere “youths threw petrol bombs, iron bars and rocks” and police returned fire with “stun grenades”.

The New York Times, meanwhile, referred to numerous

Williams’ official launch took just five minutes in the Jerez pitlane on Tuesday, before the new Renault-powered FW34 had a difficult birth.
“Unfortunately testing was cut short with a couple of initial teething problems which we are currently investigating,” said engineer Mark Gillan.

Official testing action burst into life in 2012, with every team except Marussia – and nine all-new cars in action for the first time – kicking off their campaigns.

Returning 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was fastest all day.

“The lap times don’t matter today,” Lotus’ Finn insisted.

“I do have a good feeling, and that was not always the case in my career after the first day of testing,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“But I would rather be P1 at the end of the first race than at the end of the first test day,” smiled Raikkonen.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, with the team’s brand new title-defending car only the third quickest of the 2012 runners, agreed.

“If what we saw today happens in Melbourne, then we’ll talk again,” he laughed, explaining the missed morning of testing as due to a crucial part being held up at an airport shrouded in fog.

The Guardian also reports that a Red Bull truckie was stopped for speeding.

Lotus team boss Eric Boullier, however, is convinced Raikkonen’s speed is real – and his motivation intact – after two years away.

“Believe me, he is there.”

Agreed technical director James Allison: “You can tell Kimi is a class act.”

Like fellow top team Red Bull, the new McLaren also had a low-profile day, with Jenson Button just eighth quickest.

But he didn’t accuse Lotus and Raikkonen of showboating.

“Maybe he (Raikkonen) was running heavy,” said the 2009 world champion. “We maybe haven’t seen eye to eye a lot of the time when we’ve been racing, but he’s a very quick driver, a world champion.

“He’s obviously in a very competitive car, and whatever they did today – low fuel or whatever – it was still quick.”

Struggling on Tuesday was Caterham, whose new car could not be restarted following damage to the engine starter shaft, and Toro Rosso with an oil leak.

And Felipe Massa was just ninth in the new Ferrari.

“It is obviously too early to say if this year we will be able to win or not,” said designer Nikolas Tombazis.