Fernando Alonso made some interesting comments tonight, admitting that the team has a lot of catching up to do before Australia as it learns about the radical machine.

Alonso completed two days of running in Barcelona today, before handing the car to Felipe Massa for tomorrow.

“We are trying different components on the exhausts and other areas,” said Fernando. “Then on the track and back in Maranello, everyone is working hard on analysing the data in order to improve the performance, a job that takes time.

“In Jerez, we said that we would start from a more solid base in Barcelona and that has been the case and we hope it will be the same next week at the final session. Then, we are trying to put everything together to be as well prepared as possible for Melbourne, when we will really understand where we are.

“Our targets are ambitious, which they have to be given we are Ferrari and they remain unaltered. We want to be in good enough shape to win right from the very first race. I think we are probably not the quickest today, but neither are we the slowest. In Australia, when the temperatures should be very different, we will know where we are compared to the others.”

Alonso conceded that the team has a long way to go to be on the frontrunning pace, and that the huge changes relative to last year have complicated the process of understanding it.

“At the moment, we are not where we want to be, nor where we want to be in Australia, but I remain optimistic. We still have six days of testing and we will see how it goes. It’s also hard to say how the others are doing: Red Bull is definitely very strong, as is normal in fact, given how they have gone over the past three years, but you can’t say that McLaren or Mercedes for example, who seem to be behind, are not strong themselves, maybe even more so than Red Bull.

“This has been a more laborious winter for us than in the past because we have a more complex car, which features very innovative ideas but that requires greater effort from everyone, from the drivers who drive it, the engineers who run and develop it and the mechanics who have to put in over twenty hour days. It’s always nice to have a car that is immediately ready, quick and reliable, but that is not always synonymous with winning. Last year, we did a race simulation at the end of the first test and then in Melbourne we were a second and a half off pole position.”

Alonso pointed out that the tyre warm-up problem that has long plagued Ferrari has evidently been resolved.

“It’s true that from what we have seen so far, we have always done a good job of warming up the tyres and getting the most out of them immediately. This year, the performance between the different types of tyre is much closer and there is not the big difference between one compound and another that we saw in 2011.”

Alonso added that the car had some obvious aero weaknesses: “We definitely need to make progress on the aerodynamic front, especially at the exit of corners. Every driver always wants more grip and more downforce, but one cannot judge the performance of the others from the outside.

“Maybe we would have wanted to have a complete picture of the car from the very start, but I prefer to have a quick car and then make it reliable, rather than have one that is strong but slow.”

Romain Grosjean had problems during the first laps with the new 02 chassis, and initially the team decided to stop for today while chassis 01 was flown over.

Further investigations revealed a more serious problem, and the team has decided to resolve it before running again.

It means that both Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen have lost priceless track time this week, although it remains to be seen whether the team can trade the lost days for some extra track time, as Mercedes did with Sunday’s private test.

James Allison said: “Before we were due to fly chassis E20-01 out to Barcelona in replacement of chassis E20-02 – damaged this morning – we ran a series of simulations at the factory based on the data provided by our brief running on track today.

“As a result, we were able to identify an area which requires some additional work. It will be more productive for us to carry out these modifications to both chassis at Enstone rather than send E20-01 out to this week’s test. We’ll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week.”

“Not running this week has been a tough decision to take, but we feel that our choice is the right one,” said team boss Eric Boullier. “On the positive side, we have quickly identified the issue with the chassis and our design office has already devised a solution.

“We will be present at next week’s test in Barcelona. We draw faith from the fact that the E20 was quick out of the box in Jerez and showed its reliability there. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next week but everyone at Enstone is ready for this challenge.”

The drivers are in the unusual position of already having run a shakedown day and a  full day at Barcelona that saw 354kms of proper testing before commenting.

“I have done quite a few roll-outs and launches of new cars, but even after all these years, I must say it still feels special,” said Schumacher. “Days like this are precious moments, as they are always filled with hope and anticipation. Already last week, when we were driving the F1 W03 for the very first time, it instantly gave us good feedback and sensations.

“Starting today, we will work intensively to make it a competitive runner. Obviously, we will only see over the next couple of weeks how big the step is that we have made, but I can say already that the guys and girls back in the factories at Brackley and Brixworth were brilliant in putting in so much effort, and we can only say a big thank you them.

“I know which reward they would like, and we will definitely try to deliver it. For my part, I am eager to fight again, looking forward to the new season, and I can’t wait for it to begin.”

Rosberg commented: “We have had a good start to our 2012 testing programme, and it was a great feeling to drive the first laps in the new F1 W03.

“The car looks good, and is very nicely packaged under the bodywork – all the parts are in harmony, which reflects how well the different departments of our team are working together. From the beginning of our running, we have been able to focus on understanding the car and making good progress with our test programme. It will be very interesting to learn more about where we stand in the next few weeks.”

The Mercedes W03 was seen in public for the first time this morning

Mercedes has officially unveiled its new W03, some five days after it was shaken down at a filming day at Silverstone.

The car is the first to be produced by the stellar new technical team of Bob Bell, Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis.

“The F1 W03 is a car that I believe, and hope, our team can be proud of, and which will deliver the on-track results that everybody has worked so hard to achieve,” said Ross Brawn.

“Notwithstanding the distinctive nose design, which is certainly an acquired taste, the F1 W03 is an elegant interpretation of the current regulations, and a clear step forward over its predecessor in terms of detail design and sophistication.

“Last year, we produced a very bold car and, although its more radical elements didn’t always deliver the results we had hoped for, the experience we gained has been invaluable to the design of the 2012 car.

“The F1 W03 is also a more integrated package, which reflects the ever-strengthening ties between our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth, and demonstrates that our Silver Arrows works team is taking the next step forward in terms of on-track performance.”

The Austrian – who raced for the team in 2007 and worked with Mike Coughlan at McLaren – will start working with Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado at this week’s Barcelona test.

“This is a great initiative by Williams and highlights just how hard the team is pushing to optimise its performance,” said Wurz. “Throughout my career as a sportsman, which started at the age of 12 in BMX racing, includes over a decade in Formula One and is still ongoing (racing in the World Endurance Championship), I am lucky to have gained so much experience.

“I grew up in a family business of driver training and naturally I enjoy helping fellow athletes to operate at their best. I’m really looking forward to using my expertise to help Williams at this important stage in its history.”

Chief Operations Engineer  Mark Gillan commented, “I am delighted to be working once more with Alex and look forward to his valuable input with the drivers as the whole team strives to continuously improve in all aspects of its operation.”

Between them Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher logged over 300kms of running.

It follows a filming or shakedown day at Silverstone last Thursday. But while that was conducted on Pirelli’s demo tyres, today’s test was a pukka test day on race rubber, and there were no mileage restrictions.

In effect the team has gone some way to catching up with rival teams who finished their cars on a normal schedule, and ran at Jerez earlier this month.

Mercedes planned some time ago to use the old car in Jerez, giving itself almost two weeks of extra R&D time before key elements of the W03 were finalised. It also allowed the team to make extra use of ex-Ferrari designer Aldo Costa, who only joined on December 1.

It’s also been suggested that the team wanted to keep a few secrets under wraps for as long as possible.

Although the reduced running with the new car is obviously a handicap – with only the two four day tests at Barcelona still to come – Mercedes won back an extra day with the W03 by using only three of the four available days at Jerez with the old car.

Under the testing agreement, missing that day earned the team a private test, which it utilised today – with no prying eyes and no red flags caused by others to disrupt running.

The team now has all of Monday to work on the car and crunch the data collected today before running again on Tuesday with the rest of the teams – which means it should be in pretty good shape when it joins its rivals…

Vitaly Petrov has been handed a career lifeline by Caterham

VitalyPetrov has replaced Jarno Trulli at Caterham, and will drive the CT01 in the Barcelona test next week.

The move has been rumoured for months, but was delayed while the Russian’s funding was confirmed.

The news in effect brings Trulli’s F1 career to an end, as he has no obvious future alternatives. The team has not released details of how his contractual arrangements were terminated.

Tony Fernandes said: “We are all delighted to welcome Vitaly into our team and are very excited about the role he will play in helping us take the next steps forward in 2012 and for many years to come. When we first met it was immediately clear that Vitaly understands and shares our vision for how we want our team to grow.

“As the first Russian to race in F1 he carries the hopes of a huge nation with ease and his talents, experience with one of our current competitors and insights on and off track will play a huge role in our development as we fight to join the established teams ahead.

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Jarno for the absolutely pivotal role he played in the formation and progression of our team since he joined us in December 2009. Jarno knew that when he joined us it would be a very different environment to where he had been before, and when we gave him the package he wanted he absolutely shone.

“With that in mind it was not an easy decision to bring Vitaly in to replace Jarno, but it was one we made to ensure that we give fresh impetus across the whole team and with a realistic eye on the global economic market. Jarno has an incredible natural talent behind the wheel, and his winning record and longevity in the sport will bear testament to that talent in the Formula 1 annals forever, but now it is time to open a new chapter in our team’s story, and Vitaly is the right person to help us do that.

“We have reached agreement with Jarno to bring an end to our partnership with him, but he will always be part of our family. Now we want to integrate Vitaly as quickly as possible into the team, and we will do everything we can to welcome him in, give him a car he can use to showcase his skills, and keep up the rate of development that has seen us go from an empty factory with just four employees to a fully established Formula 1 team in just over two years.”

Petrov said: “The passion and spirit that Tony and the whole team have to keep moving forwards is infectious, and I am honoured to be able to join them and play my part in helping the team mount a serious challenge to the teams ahead in 2012 and for many seasons to come.

“I have been training hard all winter and am ready to get back into the cockpit and go to work. From what I have seen already, our new car is another good step forward from 2011 and now I cannot wait to see how it feels when we get to Barcelona. I would also like to take this chance to thank all my fans and partners for their support and their patience.”

Trulli was quoted as saying: “I want to take this chance to thank Tony, Kamarudin, SM Nasarudin, Riad, Mike and everyone in the team for the two seasons we had together. From zero we built up and established a solid F1 team. I’m really proud to have been part of it. I understand the decision the team has made and I want to wish to the whole team the very best of luck for the season ahead.”

To win the former award it beat Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison documentary and Project Nim, about a monkey raised as a human.

Senna producer Eric Fellner said: “This film was made by all of us with love, and all we got back from it was love, and that deeply cynical word commerciality – which I never utter – was never even considered in this situation. We made this because we loved Ayrton, and you showed the love back.”

He added: “We need to thank Ayrton Senna for sadly living a too short life, but a life where his fact was even more amazing than fiction.”

Screenwriter Manish Pandey said: “We’d just really wanted to thank the Senna family for trusting us with his legacy. When your son dies in circumstnces like that, and you get a bunch of guys who turn up and say, listen, we want to tell the story, we think we’re very sensitive, we think we will absolutely tell it right… It takes a lot of guts to support people like that, and I’d like to thank them for doing that.”

Event host Stephen Fry gave the film the ultimate accolade: “Even if you know nothing about F1 racing and are not even vaguely interested in motor sport you will find Senna one of the greatest documentaries you’ve ever watched.”

Senna was also nominated in Outstanding British Film, where it lost out to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The BAFTAs are regarded as a precursor of the Oscars, but sadly it did not get nominated by the Academy.

Pandey’s next project is a drama based on Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins and their relationship with Enzo Ferrari.

The Finn – who has just signed a management deal with IMG – completed few laps on Tuesday after a niggling problem stopped the car, but he was happy with his subsequent running.

He handed the car over to third driver Giedo van der Garde today, prior to Jarno Trulli’s debut with it on Friday.

“Actually the problem was not really with the car, once we fixed the heating issue with one of the electronic boxes underneath the bodywork,” said Kovalainen of Tuesday’s drama. We just couldn’t start the car, we had a strange starter issue. We fixed that overnight, and once we were able to start the car it went really well, we didn’t have an issue and were able to do some set-up changes, also working on the KERS all day.

“For me it was running really well. I was expecting some troubles, I had some experience in the past from McLaren, and I remember the early days there it was not easy to get it running, and Red Bull has provided a really good system.

“It was running faultlessly all day, and I was quickly back in the habit of using it, and we were just able to monitor different temperatures and see how the batteries are living their life underneath the car, and all fine.”

Kovalainen said that he already felt that the team was in better shape than last season.

“From what I’ve seen from the team we are better prepared than other years and the car is better prepared. Last year we were missing some parts in the suspension and we had some power steering issues, and now we had a complete car here and I was expecting to be able to this kind of day already yesterday.

“It’s been good that we’ve been able to do it and out some more miles on the car and hopefully pick up some more problems. Once we’ve fixed the second wave of problems then normally the car is reliable. Hopefully we can do that before Melbourne.”

Kovalainen also pronounced himself happy with the overall feel of the CT01: “For me the car has been very easy to set-up. It has a more stable rear end than last year’s car, which is something that I wasn’t expecting to be as good as last year, because we’ve lost the blown diffuser. I think the car actually has a better rear end in the high speed.

“The main issue is a little bit of a last turn-in to the slow corners, but we’re still running last year’s front wing, for example. We have a new one coming later on, and we’ll get some more power to the front of the car. That will make it quicker. And it seems that the rear end is working really well.

“Just looking the timesheets we’re closer than we’ve been before. We’ve done proper running, we haven’t done any show runs, so fingers crossed.”

The German is confident that the decision to delay the debut of the new W03 until the second test – in effect giving the design team an extra 14 days – will pay dividends. However, he is cautious about the car’s potential, given where the team was last year.

“The main point is the reliability factor,” he said. “If a car has a certain performance, you’re going to dial that our reasonably quickly, unless you have unexpected circumstances, as we occasionally have in the past. We hope not to have this, we hope to learn our lesson, and our programme is done in a way that we believe in it.

“It is an important factor because we worked longer on our car, but as I’ve said before I don’t think we can realistically achieve a championship car immediately from where we started last year, we have to build our way there. I’m confident we can do that in the future, but let’s take it step by step.”

That of course begged the question of whether he will be around to reap the longer term benefits…

Schumacher said that the tyre testing with the old car had been valuable.

“We did lots of mileage, good mileage, not just cruising around. We made some very good work with the new tyres that we have to face for this year. And that was the main focus for us, understanding those tyres, use the old car as much as we know what is different between those cars, last year’s car and this year’s car, and trying to understand and work a programme that we’ve done perfectly well.”

He also implied that the tyre are now more suited to him: “They have changed quite a bit – they are lot more consistent, and a lot more close to let’s say a real F1 tyre, what you would expect, what you’d wish to have. It’s certainly for a race driver much better.”