Secret Mechanic: friends or enemies?

So we're three races in and already it's pretty clear which team you need to be working for if you want to be winning races this year. The guys inside that Mercedes pit will already be thinking about winning both world titles come the end of the season, even if they wouldn't dream of saying it in public just yet.

At the moment I'm sure it's all very jovial and a great place to be as both sides of the garage happily trade pole positions and race wins. But what's going to be most interesting is how the team, let alone the two drivers, handle the increased pressure, increased competitiveness and the increased tension as we approach the sharp end of the campaign.

I've seen teams go to incredible lengths to keep data, information and ideas top secret from their main competitors. We've had bizarre, bordering on ridiculous, covers for parts of the cars to stop people seeing what we're up to. These may well have kept our wing angles or spring settings hidden for a short while longer, but I can assure you they're a complete pain in the arse for us mechanics, as it often made it difficult to do our jobs with them in the way.

Data is sacred so communication is usually encrypted © LAT

We've used complex, military grade encryption systems for radio transmissions in the past, to try to stop other teams listening in to what we were saying. Data is kept well hidden from prying eyes and computer displays use uni-directional screen filters to ensure cameras can't snap an image of what the team are looking at. I even went to a private F1 test many years ago where we contracted a private detective agency to sweep our garage for listening devices or hidden cameras placed by other teams.

So much work goes into protecting any advantage a team might have over its rivals and rightly so, you don't get ahead in Formula 1 easily. So what about when your biggest and only real rival is just a few feet away, working out of the other side of the same garage all year?

Like I say, right now I'm sure things are fine. Winning races by a country mile and both drivers racing hard and fair is still all a bit of a novelty to the team. It's when it starts getting really serious that things could change. We all remember 2007 at McLaren.

When there are two races to go and one of those desperate lunges from Nico Rosberg connects and causes Lewis Hamilton a puncture, dropping him out of the points, how will he react? How will his mechanics and engineers react? I know how I would.

Does the flow of information dry up between the two sides? Do they discuss strategy in the same way? If they find an advantage in set up or driving style do they share it? As a mechanic, we talk openly throughout the garage. Would that change too? It's going to be fascinating to see this year.

Hamilton and Rosberg are the class of the field at present in F1 © XPB

Behind the front two, way behind them in fact, the order's still a little more blurred. There was a point in pre-season, before the cars had hit the racetrack that nobody, not even the guys at Mercedes this year, knew how good or bad their car was going to be.

At Red Bull, they've discovered they've essentially got the wrong engine package this year to repeat the success they've enjoyed in recent times.

People may well be short of sympathy, but they've been so dominant because of hard work and having simply done a better job than everyone else. They've been better in almost every area, aero, engine, electronic trickery, pitstops, tyre management, the list goes on.

There'll be some new emotions in the team this season, as they come to terms with the fact it's highly unlikely they'll be able to hang on to either title. That's hard to take, particularly for the folks in the pitlane, working tirelessly to try to recover some ground.

As a mechanic, I you feel irritatingly powerless in the quest to make the car go faster during hard times. You can make a difference in the race, through pitstops, but you're not a designer. You rely on others to take care of that side of things and frustrating though it was, it gives you a real sense of the team work involved in F1. You win as a team and lose as a team.

Red Bull seems to have everything bar a potent engine in 2014 © LAT

Red Bull are the stand out Renault-powered team at the moment after an incredible turnaround in form. They may not be a match for Mercedes yet, but most areas of the team seem to be on track. Pitstops are still great, aero looks strong, they're doing OK on tyre management, two great drivers, so it looks like it's overall power that's letting them down right now.

Let's be clear, Renault are not part of the team at Red Bull. They like to portray that in public and of course they are all working together to fix things, but Red Bull are simply a customer and if things don't go well, they're well within their rights to look elsewhere.

The Red Bull Racing staff will feel somewhat let down and won't want the team's management to continue down the same path for too long without being at the front. When you've tasted success like they have, it quickly becomes very addictive.

Elsewhere, teams like Force India and Williams have made huge strides forward, having chosen to buy the right power unit for 2014. It's great news for them. Williams have been out of contention for too long and there's a lot of love around the paddock for them. I was in the pitlane at the tail end of their former glory days and a few of the team are still travelling today, so it would be lovely to see them go full circle at some point.

The boys and girls at Force India have been so, so close to good results so often, but rarely achieved potential. If you're not at one of the top two or three teams in F1, it's unlikely you'll ever experience the thrill of winning a world championship as a mechanic, so for the rest they're in their own battles.

It was great to see the scenes on Sunday evening in Bahrain as Force India celebrated their first podium finish in five years. For them, that's their world championship and I know all too well exactly how amazing that feels.