Inclement whether conditions made it difficult for most of the teams but Fernando looked unfazed by any such element. Fernando did a total of 96 laps of the testing circuit. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen clearly struggling with grip in the wet conditions finished second ahead of Renault test driver Nelson Piquet.

Fernando Alonso would be gunning for his third straight world title but this time it is with his new employers Mclaren-Mercedes. Fernando had won his earlier two titles with Renault and his switch to Mclaren is seen by many as the only impediment that could come within his way of a third title. Though vastly improved the Voking based outfit had struggled in the past seasons but are looking to revive their fortunes with two new drivers in Fernando and rookie Lewis Hamilton.

Life seems to have come a full circle for Australian driver Mark Webber, not necessarily in terms of his performance on the track but with the teams that he has been associated with. One of the most promising drivers a couple of seasons ago Mark pretty much finds himself where he was after two seasons of going around the various circuits in the world.

Before his much promised move to Williams Webber drove for the Jaguar team the one that is effectively the same one to which he has come back two seasons later only that it is now called Red Bull. During his days at Jaguar he used be a driver with some tremendous talent but lil that his car could deliver to make him a real champion. So he waited for a bigger team and one that finally arrived with both Williams and Renault offering him a seat for the 2005 season.

Wonder if he would rue his decision to join Sir Frank Williams as he saw the declined French outfit zoom ahead with two back to back world titles with Spanish sensation Fernando Alsonso wining the drivers’ crown. But what is past is past, in the past two seasons he’s been at best an also ran. With few and far between glimpses of his driving genius one that came at the Monaco Grand Prix one that he finished third, he’s for in this period.

So is it an altogether a back to square-position for Webber… well it might pretty well be the same team, pretty much the same number of wins and I hope for him he still has the same hunger and passion for the sport. But this time two things change, one that he is two seasons wiser and two that he is two seasons closer to his finish. At thirty he might not really be any fit to carry on like a Schumacher. So all said and done this could be the season that could pretty much end or carry on his career for some more time.

But with the new MP-4 22 Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes as the team is called now are set to turn a new in their quest for the World and Driver’s Championship something that has eluded them since the days of Mika Hakkinen. With a line-up that boasts of double world champion Fernando Alonso and rookie yet super quick Lewis Hamilton.

Fernando has been riding a crest of success that Mclaren hope would continue as he makes a switch from last years champions Renault. Hamilton meanwhile is a G-22 winner and would also become the first colored driver in F1come this march. Though confident Fernando is equally conscious of the fact that though he could be two time defending champion nevertheless when the green lights go at Bahrain it would be a new year, new race where every one would start with a clean sheet and most importantly for him personally it would be a new team.

It’s been a long time since the Scarlet team emerged victorious from a F1 season or rather so it seems. Ferrari was so used to win title after title with Micheal Schumacher in days he was considered almost invincible that a couple years since their last double of Drivers and Constructors Title came home it seems long long away that it actually happened. Not to suggest that Ferrari has become restless and desperate but definitely they are becoming a bit more concerned than before. When they lost the title to Renault for the first time it seemed that they took it in their stride and got back the next season but even after a inspired performance in the second half of the season saw both titles slip away from their clasp just by the skin of its teeth and that got Ferrari a bit more concerned.

So when they launched their new car for the 2007 season their message to their team was clear and simple – Reclaiming both Drivers’ and Constructors’ Titles. In a some what low profile event Ferrari launched the F2007 and the car made its first public appearance at the Fiorano test track on Monday. Though not an entirely new concept the car is a ‘significantly modified’ version of the F2006’s 248 F1.

The car sported revised and modified aero specs and has a longer wheelbase than its previous version. A revision in the gearbox of the new Ferrari means that the rear of the car is also much different to its predecessor as is the front suspension. The cooling systems modifications means that the side pods have a new shape and look.

Present at the occasion were Ferrari’s drivers for this season Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa. Both were confident of doing a good job with the car that Ferrari have handed them, But far from the hullabaloo of other teams Ferrari seems to be quiety and assuredly doing its job and when the greens lights go the Scuderia might just be the team everyone will chase down the chequered flag

Though the season is still more than a couple of months away things the engines and the speculations have already started revving in the paddocks and pit lanes of formula one. The most high-profile racing sport in the world is set to kick off from the deserts of Bahrain on the 12th of March, the banter has already begun as to who stands a chance of winning the most coveted prize in motor sport – being crowned the Driver Champion in F1.

There has been plenty of shuffle in the drivers and teams in the winter and everyone is playing the psychological cards to gain that extra advantage before the season roars off. Flavio Briatore has already gone one up on his one-time protégé Fernando Alonso. The double world champion has made a switch to Mclaren Mercedes but the Renault boss believes that would not make the struggling Mclaren any better team. Briatore took a pot shot at them saying that the silver and black side has had very good drivers in Kimi Raikonnen last season and yet they failed to even a single Grand Prix. The Renault boss surely trying to taunt the world champion.

Meanwhile, former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi believes that coming to Ferrari could be the best thing to happen for the young Finn Kimi. In fact, Jean goes on to say that it could almost be like Paradise for him. And life began pretty well for the so-called bad boy in F1. Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has brushed aside rumors that there have been concerns about the driver’s wild party habits. The Ferrari president says it was a good move to sign Kimi and he motivated enough to prove that with a solid performance this season.

So guys we’re getting ever so close to the green light on the F1 calendar, so do keep it here for more news, gossip and views on F1, the teams, the drivers, the controversies and more…

The young driver claims that though the standards set by Fernando are quite high at Renault he expects himself to match or even go past them. Heikki expects himself to be under tremendous pressure to match the results of last year but the confident young la says he wants to get result not to match Fernando but cos he wants an identity for himself. So there you are, looks like its not just one Finn Kimi challenging the champion but there could be some fierce battles from his former outfit too…