The Observer

Small groups of journalists huddled together in the media centre try to work it out. On the forum pages of autosport.com, fans argue about the final order. It is Sunday morning, just a few hours before the Malaysian Grand Prix, and yet the final grid for the race has everyone confused.

That's Formula One in 2006. Nothing is straightforward anymore - even something that used to be as simple as the formation of a grid.

The numerous engine changes in the heavy, tropical heat of Sepang sends Felipe Massa and Ralf Schumacher to the back of the grid. Others such as Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello are docked 10 places on the grid. The severity of the punishment depends on the engine change being made before or after qualifying.

The predicted reliability fears for the new V8s, most of which were starting their second race, have been borne out.

As the qualifying order is finally made official, a behind-closed-doors row that has been simmering since Bahrain is threatening to boil over. Pictures from a Ferrari onboard camera shown on German TV have given the evidence rival teams need to threaten a protest against the Scuderia.

Flexing wings are forbidden under a ruling regarding moveable bodywork, and yet the TV footage clearly shows the second plane of the Ferrari front wing bending under aerodynamic loads. Are Ferrari in breach of the regulations?

The front wing of the Ferrari 248 F1 © LAT

Team principals and senior technical figures are seen going into meetings throughout Sunday morning. FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting is consulted at length. As the race approaches, there is talk of eight teams signing a letter threatening to protest Ferrari - but in fact a sensible compromise has been reached.

The eight teams have called on Whiting to provide a clarification on Ferrari's wing in time for the Australian Grand Prix. If the FIA say that there is no problem with the red cars, every team will adopt similar 'flexi-wings' to eke out performance. Honda's Nick Fry reckons a wing the team already has prepared could gain their car as much as three tenths of a second per lap.

The teams' ability to realise that a protest against Ferrari is not in the best interests of F1 should be applauded. Quite rightly, the onus is now on the FIA to make a judgement.

But would the teams' equanimity have survived a Ferrari victory in Sepang? Let's just say it's probably just as well neither Schumacher nor Massa took the chequered flag first on Sunday.

But let's give the teams credit. Not only did they make the right decision on the 'flexi-wing' controversy, they have also helped formalise a new qualifying format that has largely been a resounding success in the first two races.

Yes, there are problems, such as a needlessly complicated format that requires the ten quickest cars to burn off fuel in the final part of the session, but this can be improved. Expect a format revision later in the season.

I know I'm tempting fate here, but F1 is in great shape at the moment. The strength of Renault, Honda, McLaren and Ferrari, plus the potential of determined Williams-Cosworth, is promising us one of the most competitive seasons ever. The rules, the teams and a field of drivers that I think will prove to be of vintage quality in time has lifted F1 clear of the doldrums that were an inevitable result of Ferrari's previous domination.

But will the good times last? That will largely depend on the outcome of ongoing negotiations. The GPMA teams continue to make steps to secure their places in F1 beyond 2008, but a deal hasn't been made yet. It is probably still some way off.

Meanwhile, the entry window for 2008 set by the FIA is looming. McLaren boss Ron Dennis has made it clear he can't commit until the commercial deal is in place. Given Max Mosley's insistence that this deadline is serious, trouble could be just on the horizon.

But a breakaway series led by the GPMA teams will almost certainly not happen. If it were a serious prospect, circuits and promoters would be lined up by now. Instead expect the virtual pages of autosport.com and the 'real' pages of Autosport magazine to be taken up by a lengthy run of 'political' stories in the coming months.

Personally, I prefer writing about sport rather than business. So as there is so much to intrigue us this year, what should be expected, based on the evidence we now have from Bahrain and Malaysia?

Fernando Alonso passes the Williams cars of Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber © XPB/LAT

First off, Renault. The world Champions clearly have maintained the edge witnessed in the final race of last year in China. Having followed Fernando Alonso closely in the opening stages of last Sunday's race, Mark Webber spoke of how the Renault was "totally supreme on traction". He just couldn't get a run out of the corners to have any chance of passing Alonso.

That familiar traction strength was also put to good use - as always by Renault - at the start. Pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella led easily into the first turn, but it was Alonso's electrifying getaway from seventh that left you breathless. He scythed past the McLarens and Williamses, and almost nailed Jenson Button's Honda too.

The car's performance matched to the faultless strategies of Pat Symonds' team does mean that Renault will be hard to beat. But it can be done.

McLaren has got off to yet another rocky start (not all through their own fault, mind - see Christian Klien on Sunday). But the shiny MP4-21 - that could be Arnold Schwarzenegger's nemesis from Terminator II in cunning disguise - will win plenty of races this year.

Kimi Raikkonen's third place in Bahrain from the back of the grid was sensational, and he would have given the Renaults and Button serious problems had Klien kept his nose clean (sorry) on the first lap at Sepang.

Ferrari, well, they're back. Maybe not to the levels of dominance of 2003-04, but Schumacher's revitalisation this year says much.

"Somewhere between the performance in Bahrain and the performance in Sepang" is Michael's judgement of Ferrari's true form. "It depends on the different characteristics of the tracks. Sepang is one that didn't suit us."

As for Honda, Button might have lost out to Alonso on Sunday, but it was tighter than it looked. Their lap times were very equally matched during Alonso's chase.

Bad luck with traffic compromised Button's strategy, and he was forced to pit earlier than planned. Had he stopped on target, that race out of the pits to the first corner with Alonso would have been much closer.

Williams? It is still early days to make a definitive judgement. As Webber said after the race in Malaysia, he never ran in clear air to find out what the FW28 could really do.

A double reliability failure - engine for Nico Rosberg, hydraulics for Webber - is worrying, but this is one team that is still performing way ahead of widespread expectations in 2006.

The rest of the field are bit players to the main drama at the moment. That won't necessarily continue to be the case, but even if it does, there's enough to keep us gripped already. We've got a great summer to look forward to.