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Sebastian Vettel admits he had a messy first day of the season in Australia, although he was happier with the car by the end of the second session.

While everyone had to adjust their programmes to deal with the rain that affected both sessions, Vettel conceded that RBR was up against it as he wasn’t comfortable with the RB8 initially.

“This morning it wasn’t very good, I wasn’t happy at all in the car,” said Vettel. “This afternoon I think it was a bit better. Obviously with the conditions it was difficult to get a lot of running. It was more or less the same for all of us, but with the little time we had in the afternoon it was quite OK.

“It’s up to us to find the balance and understand the car a little bit more and learn a little bit more about the car in these conditions on this circuit, and hopefully go a lot quicker tomorrow.

“Tomorrow the target is to make it into Q3, and then we go from there.”

Vettel admitted it will be hard to catch up on the lost running in the one hour FP3 session on Saturday.

“You can’t re-invent the wheel, even though you had a messy Friday due to conditions it doesn’t mean that on Saturday you just run the whole hour, you don’t have enough tyres for that, and obviously it’s about preparing for qualifying mostly.

“You can’t do everything in one hour, so as I said the most important thing now is to make a step overnight, learn a bit more about the car – the laps in the end were important to understand a bit more – and then we go from there.”

Lewis Hamilton insists that he has no idea where McLaren will fit as the 2012 order becomes more clear cut over the course of this weekend.

“Although I’ve tested new tyres I’ve not been on lower fuel,” said Hamilton. “To see how we compare with others and how we extract that time is going to be interesting.

“I really, really don’t know. When I look at all the data on our long runs we look like we’re in the top three or four in terms of our long run pace and our degradation. Again I’ve not been on low fuel so I don’t know whether others were or how we compare to others, so really we’ll find out most probably on Saturday.

“I’m expecting Lotus to be quite quick and I’m expecting Red Bull to be quick, and I have a feeling that Mercedes will be very fast, and also Ferrari.”

Hamilton was keen to point out that he was not expecting to have a winning car from the start, despite promising form in testing.

“I’m not expecting anything. I would like that to be the case, but we can’t expect anything. Whatever the case we’re going to be working as hard as we can to get to the top, and do the best with what we have.

“It’s just the way it is. I think it would be silly to have any expectation and it would be silly to say we are definitely going to be on the front row, blah, blah, blah, because we might find out in the next couple of days we’re not the quickest, and look silly. And I really am not sure where we lie. But I think we are there or thereabouts.”

Intriguingly Hamilton said that the MP4-27 feels the same to drive as its predecessor.

“It’s exactly the same. The car is not a huge amount different compared to last year’s car – considering we lost a lot of downforce with the blown diffuser it’s not that big a difference. We still want more rear downforce, I’d love to have some of that downforce I had last year from the exhausts and the engine, but they’ve found it elsewhere.

“Now I think without the exhaust we’ve improved the foundation of the car, so it should mean that we have a better car for this season.”

Elaborating on the potential of the MP4-27, Lewis said: “The tyres have been improved this year so we have a little bit more grip. From what we’ve lost on the downforce side we’ve picked up a bit more from the tyres. I don’t think we are a long, long way from where we were last year on the whole downforce package.”

The FIA has issued a Q&A with F1 race director Charlie Whiting, and while it contains nothing we didn’t already know, it does provide some handy background to the various rule changes implemented for 2012 – starting with the Sporting Regulations.

Q: Why has a four-hour total time limit been put on Grands Prix?

CW: Last season the race in Montreal went on for four hours and four minutes. A race really should not go on longer than that. Should four hours elapse during a future race, drivers will receive a signal telling them they have one more lap before the chequered flag.

Q: Race stewards will now be able to investigate an incident without first reporting it to the race director. Why is the system changing?

CW: In the past stewards might see something suspect and alert the race director. He would look at the incident and request the stewards investigate. It was a process that consumed a lot of time. If they identify something worth investigating, there’s nothing wrong with them taking a look and then giving the race director an opinion. It should make the process less cumbersome.

Q:  Drivers are now instructed to not deliberately leave the track without good reason. Why?

CW: We’ve seen drivers taking shortcuts on in and out laps, either to save time or fuel. We could put up barriers to stop them exploiting short cuts but it usually looks stupid! The rules say the drivers should use the track. If they don’t, they will need to justify their actions. It also follows that safety will be improved as other drivers are more likely to know that a car has left the track for a good reason.

Q: The ‘one-move’ rule on defending a position has been reinstated. Has there been a problem with dangerous blocking in the last few seasons?

CW: This isn’t really a new overtaking rule, rather we’ve put into the regulations what was an unwritten rule. A driver can make one move only to defend a position – but when that driver then moves back onto the racing line to take a corner it can be construed as a second move, which is not allowed. It’s a matter of deciding to what degree resuming the original line is acceptable. We don’t want to get into silly arguments about centimetres so we’ve decided the defending driver must leave at least one car width on the racing line otherwise he will be judged to have made a second move and penalised accordingly. We need to have drivers giving each other space on the track – otherwise we risk dangerous collisions.

Q: Previously cars needed to pass crash tests before racing. Now they have to pass before testing. Why?

CW: Safety cannot be compromised. It is indefensible to have drivers testing cars in the winter that haven’t met the safety standards we demand for a race. The teams resisted this for quite a while, telling me it would be impossible to get the crash tests done before the first test. It came as no great surprise that nearly everybody managed it. However, as we have seen, two teams failed to pass all their crash tests in good time and were subsequently unable to participate any of the pre-season testing in Jerez and Barcelona (both of these teams have now passed all the required tests).

Q: Why are drivers now allowed more than three sets of tyres for FP1 and FP2 on Fridays?

CW: Each driver still gets eleven sets for the weekend and three still have to be given back on Friday evening and another two after FP3 on Saturday. This has not changed. We are, however, allowing teams to use more than three of their eleven sets on Fridays to give them the opportunity to do more running on the first day of practice should they wish to do so. As an example they might expect Saturday to be wet and want to get more running in beforehand on a dry track. It is to the benefit of everyone that they are allowed to run as much as they want during the Friday sessions.

Q: With the safety car on track, lapped cars will be allowed to unlap themselves and rejoin at the back of the field. Why is F1 going back to this system?

CW: We took this rule away because it was difficult to manage and potentially dangerous. We have reinstated it with new safeguards. Drivers will only be allowed to overtake once they have all passed the pit entry twice, this will allow all drivers to pit if they want to. We will also instruct the lead drivers to stay on the racing line once the order is given to allow cars to overtake. They will be allowed to weave again, to get heat into their tyres, when we inform them it is safe to do so.

Technical regulations

Q: Why do the 2012 cars have the ‘platypus’ nose?

CW. The height of the survival cell in front of the driver was 625mm – and we wanted to reduce that to 550mm. Our intention was to ensure the nose is lower than the cockpit sides, to protect the driver’s head in the event of a ‘T-bone’ accident. Some teams complained that lowering the whole car forward of the cockpit would force them into a radical redesign. We agreed a compromise that the 550mm height would only apply from a point 1950mm in front of the rear edge of the cockpit template. This achieves the objective equally well, and without requiring the teams to fundamentally overhaul their suspension packaging. They do all look like ducks though…

Q: Measurement tolerances have been tightened. Why?

We used to measure tolerances across the flat bottom, the step and reference planes with a margin of ±5mm. The tolerances were there to allow for manufacturing discrepancies but teams were designing to the limit of the tolerances, contrary to the spirit of the rules. We have therefore reduced the allowance to ±3mm.

Q: The obligatory weight distribution rule was only supposed to run for one season. Why has the rule been continued for a second season?

CW: We had this rule last year to allow teams to begin designing their cars before they knew the characteristics of the Pirelli tyres. The teams have indicated they would like to keep the rule in place for the second year rather than make expensive wholesale changes to their cars for 2012. We have no problem with this.

Q: The size and position of exhaust exits is now specified. Why stipulate this area of the design?

CW: Our objective is to prevent teams operating a blown diffuser, which under certain circumstances infringes Article 3.15 (moveable aerodynamic device). In combination with additional constraints on engine mapping, as described in technical directive number 36 and incorporated into the SECU code, it will limit designers’ ability to exploit exhaust gases for aerodynamic effect. However teams will not unlearn the knowledge they have gained and it is quite likely this area of regulation may need to be revisited again in 2013?

Q: Why are there new dimensional constraints for suspension uprights?

CW: This is to stop uprights protruding too far from the wheels and being used, in effect, as wings.

Q: Why has helium been banned from use in wheel guns?

CW: Powering wheel-guns with compressed helium instead of compressed air saved fractions of a second during a pitstop. Now everyone is aware of this, it would have been a very expensive method of gaining no advantage.

Q: Why have active torque measuring systems been banned for wheel changes?

CW: We want the wheel gun operator to be responsible for the action. Once the torque is applied he should be making the decision to disengage. The latest torque guns show a light when the correct torque has been applied. That is as far as we want to go – we do not want any further automation.

Q: Why have the intrusion panels increased in size?

CW: The panels were installed 100mm-500mm above the reference plane, they are now 100mm-550mm about the plane. The forward one was 400mm high and is now 450mm high. This change should improve driver safety in the event of a T-bone accident.

Q: How and why have the tests for front wing deflection changed?

CW: The rules state the wings (as well as all other parts of the bodywork) must be rigid. We have halved the permitted deflection. Previously the wing was tested with a 1kN load and allowed to deflect 20mm. As a result of this the teams were testing wings until they found a design that deflected 19.9mm under a 1kN load. Our allowances are only a guideline for us and we felt the teams were operating outside the spirit of the rules and clearly designing their wings with flexibility in mind. In our view Article 3.15 takes precedence over Article 3.17 where the deflection limits are quantified. Article 3.17.8 allows us to introduce new tests if we feel our guidelines are not being following in an appropriate manner. The new test therefore moves the pressure point rearwards by 10mm and inboard by 5mm with the permitted deflection reduced to 10mm. We have also told the teams that we may apply the load to just one side of the front wing, an asymmetrical test.

Q: There has been a technical directive on the subject of ride height systems. Why have these been banned?

CW: The systems in question used braking torque to affect ride height changes. If these changes are made primarily for aerodynamic benefit they would be illegal under Article 3.15.

Q: Finally, there were some additions to the regulations ratified by the F1 Commission at the World Motor Sport Council on 9 March. Can you expand on those?

CW: The changes weren’t substantial and the amendments were in three areas: firstly, we decided that one set of dry weather tyres can now be carried over to Saturday if both Friday practice sessions are declared wet. The reason for that is simply to give the teams the opportunity to run more laps on Saturday; we also decided that we would clarify things with regard to DRS use so that we can prohibit the use of the adjustable rear wing if we feel that visibility is too poor in wet conditions. We did that on safety grounds because of concerns about the speed differential between cars. Finally, we just clarified things with regard to the curfew works to make sure that rest periods remain constant throughout the season.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali admits that the Italian team is not where it wants to be heading into the 2012 season, but he is confident that the situation will improve.

He denies that there is any sense of panic in the camp ahead of Melbourne.

“There is none of this, just an awareness of where we stand,” said Domenicali. “We have been realistic when communicating about the problems we have had, because transparency is part of the way I go about things.

“The lack of satisfaction comes from the fact we did not meet our technical targets and so everything refers to ourselves. Where we are compared to the others, we do not know for certain and our lack of satisfaction might also turn out to be excessive. Having said this, a clearer picture of the hierarchy on track will only emerge after the first four races.”

Domenicali defended the decision to go for a more radical car for 2012.

“We had asked our engineers for an extreme car, because without that, we would have been unable to close the gap to the best. The first configuration of the exhausts showed good potential, but it caused problems – the tyres overheated and the performance was unstable. Therefore we had to change, even if I certainly was not happy about it. We are still working on the original set up, but we will be unable to test it until the Mugello test at the beginning of May, because we believe it could give us a good performance advantage.

“Sport goes in cycles. Over the last thirteen years, McLaren has won just one Constructors’ and one Drivers’ title, Renault had two fantastic seasons and then nothing, Brawn had a one-off, Mercedes has only managed two podiums in three years and at the moment, this is the Red Bull cycle.

“In 2010, we began a new technical cycle. Important steps were taken in terms of the organisation and working methodology and here I’m thinking mainly about the areas of simulation and strategy. Aerodynamics is not yet at an adequate level. It’s not easy finding the right people, but this has to be a stimulus for those who work for us. I tell you this as someone who experienced the Schumacher era first hand and I recall how much we suffered before getting there. Ferrari will be back with another winning cycle as the basics are in place to achieve it.”

Regarding the team’s potential rivals, Domenicali said: “This year, Red Bull again starts out in front. McLaren is on form, Mercedes has taken a step forward and Lotus is looking strong, but they also began well last year.

“Toro Rosso and Force India also seem good, especially on a flying lap. So there might be some surprises at the start and then the situation will settle down but I expect everyone to be much closer to each other than in 2011.”

He admitted that there was pressure to get the job done.

“I’ve got pressure on my back, which is as it should be. I am not the one who designs the car: my task is to give my people everything they need in terms of organisation and structure. Having said that, I am very much aware of my responsibilities. There is pressure, but I feel the support of the whole team and of President Montezemolo.”

Domenicali also made some interesting comments on the RRA: “The agreements relating to cost reduction are still valid and we are evaluating if it can be up to the FIA to ensure they are respected, introducing sanctions of a sporting nature.

“Why didn’t we ask for the checks that were outlined in the agreement to be made last year? Very simple, because we did not want it to sound like an excuse for our performance. As for the Concorde Agreement, I can only say that we are moving forward. Maybe, after what happened to the ocean going liner of the same name, we should not call it this anymore…”

Alexander Rossi has been confirmed as Caterham’s test driver, alongside Dutchman Giedo van der Garde, who has already been announced as the team’s reserve driver.

Although no races have been listed, he will gain more F1 experience running in Friday practice sessions.

The American will also continued to race in the Renault 3.5 series with Caterham.

Team principal Tony Fernandes said: “Today’s announcement marks an important next step for Caterham F1 Team and Alexander’s career. As our official F1 Test Driver, Alexander is a key figure in our long-term plans  and the investment we are making in him now will help him make the most of the natural talent he has at his disposal.

“We see 2012 as an important year for Alexander as he will be combining a full calendar in World Series by Renault, a championship he has a very good chance of winning, with his Test Driver role and giving him the chance to take part in FP1 gives him the platform from which he can grow into an even bigger F1 role.”

Rossi said: “In the past year I have spent time in Hingham at the factory and built solid relationships right across the team. I feel really comfortable with everyone and am looking forward to growing as a professional with Caterham and acquiring as much experience as possible from Friday Practice, the F1 simulator and time with the team.

“Winter training has been very good as Pro Performance, Caterham F1 Team’s physios, are looking after all my fitness and nutrition, preparing me for this season and my next step to F1. I am fully ready for the task at hand. I have not been in a car since the F1 rookie test in Abu Dhabi last November, but have been on the simulator.

“I am very eager for World Series by Renault testing to begin next week and get down to work, where I’ll be running with Arden Caterham in the classic green and yellow colours. The 2011 season was good, but now I have that experience under my belt and I’m determined to fight for the championship throughout the 2012 season. This is going to be an incredible year!”

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved three last minute tweaks to the F1 Sporting Regulations, ahead of the first race in Melbourne.

The changes are outlined in the FIA’s words as follows:

– One set of dry-weather tyres may now be carried over to Saturday if both Friday sessions are declared wet; it is hoped that this will result in teams carrying out more laps on Saturday.

– Changes have been made to the personnel curfew to ensure the rest periods remain constant throughout the season, irrespective of the timing of practice sessions at particular events.

– The race director may now prohibit the use of the adjustable rear wing (DRS) if he feels visibility is too poor in wet conditions. This has been done as a result of safety concerns over large speed differentials between cars.

Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn is confident that the team has made a big step since last season, and is in good shape heading to Melbourne.

The team has been stuck in fourth place for the past two years, but Brawn is clearly optimistic.

“We are well prepared, both at the factory and on track, as a result of our structured development and testing plan,” he said in a Melbourne preview. “And I am confident that we are in a good position. How this translates to our performance relative to the competition is, of course, the key question and it will be interesting to see how it all shapes out next weekend.

“My thanks to all of the team at Brackley and Brixworth for their hard work
and dedication over the winter months and I hope we will be able to reward them with a strong season.”

Norbert Haug added: “Starting the third season with our Silver Arrows works team, we think we are better prepared than the two years before, which indicates that our learning process is heading in the right direction. The Mercedes F1 W03 has run reliably since its first run on 16 February, completed 4,450 km during pre-season testing, and achieved an average daily testing mileage of 472 km – this equates to an average of more than one and a half Grand Prix distances during each of the nine test days.

“After testing, we know we have a solid basis to work from and a good platform for development. Understandably, there is much speculation about the pecking order of the new season, and finally we will get a first answer on Saturday afternoon during qualifying in Melbourne, when everybody has to put their cards on the table.”

Williams Grand Prix Holdings has announced an improved financial performance for the year to December 31 2011, with overall earnings up by 14.8% or £13.5m.

A company statement said: “On a like for like basis the core business, which combines the traditional Formula One business and diversification using our Formula One derived IP, has seen turnover increase from £90.8m to £102.3m, and EBIT increase from £8.2m to £9.8m. This has driven an overall Group turnover of £104.5m (2010: £91m) and an EBIT increase of 20.6% to £7.6m.

“The results of the investment businesses, Williams Hybrid Power and Williams Technology Centre Qatar, are growing as expected and are in line with the board’s long-term business plan.”

Regarding the improved performance, Williams chairman Adam Parr added: “The Group has enjoyed a strong performance over the last 12 months, in spite of continuing difficulties in the global economy. Our 2011 Annual Report shows strong results and our current cash position is excellent. At 29th February 2012, the Group held net cash of £29.2 million. We can therefore look ahead with confidence.

“We have made a number of new technical appointments that will strengthen our performance in Formula One and we are delighted with our new partnerships with Renault in Formula One and Jaguar on the C-X75 hybrid supercar project. Our new business developments across Williams Hybrid Power, Williams Advanced Engineering and the Williams Technology Centre Qatar are delivering promising results.”

Pirelli will use a 2010 Renault R30 for its tyre test programme this year, as a replacement for the now outdated Toyota TF109.

One of the main drawbacks of the latter was that it dated back to the refuelling era, and thus had a small tank and could not be run with a representative heavy fuel load.

No driver has been confirmed as yet for the programme.

The choice of the Renault came after long discussions with the teams, as there as an obvious concern that a team directly involved in the testing could gain an advantage.

Explaining the decision, Pirelli said: “The 2010 Renault will be adapted to simulate the latest technical and aerodynamic regulations, as Pirelli develops new tyres for the future. With official in-season testing limited to one session at Mugello in May, a test programme with a contemporary car will play a vital part in Pirelli’s tyre development throughout the year. In order to ensure complete impartiality, the test team will be run by Pirelli with no team member connected to a current Formula One team, in the same carbon black Pirelli livery as was used last year.”

“Four to five tyre tests are anticipated for this season, just as was the case last year, in Barcelona, Jerez, Spa and Monza. The first test is due to take place in May, with the remaining test dates still to be decided.  All of the current teams will be invited to send one observer to each test, although no data or other information about the test programme will be supplied.”

“It was clear from an early point that we needed a more modern solution for our test car, as while the Toyota TF109 has served us extremely well, it is now three years old,” said motor sport boss Paul Hembury. “Technology as well as the regulations have moved on considerably since then, and the Toyota is no longer able to generate the same sort of forces that we need to simulate in order to meet the current requirements of Formula One.

“At the top of our agenda is the need to treat the teams entirely equally, which is why the test team will be run independently and all the teams will be able to send an observer to the tests.

“Our new test car will be running to current fuel regulations, with no refuelling, so we will be able to simulate a full race distance and the change in balance with the car and tyres. The final piece of the jigsaw will be to recruit a test driver, and we hope to announce this within a month. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Toyota, who have given us exceptional support as we developed our range of tyres for 2011 and 2012. They have played a significant part in our achievements in Formula One to date, and now we look forward to building on this in the future with a new range of tyres.”

The Marussia MR01 is now cleared to race after passing its final FIA crash test today.

The car was allowed to have a shakedown on a promotional day at Silverstone yesterday, and had already passed an ‘unobserved’ test.

“After a challenging few weeks for the team, we are pleased to have overcome the last hurdle of the final FIA-observed crash test, which we passed today,” said technical consultant Pat Symonds.

“The component in question actually passed an ‘unobserved’ crash test but has been performing inconsistently in the observed tests. The previous fail was only marginal so we needed to have a slightly more robust solution in place. A few minor adjustments to the original concept of the component was all that was required.

“We were all thrilled to see the new car out on track over the past two days and whilst we have a lot of catching up to do, we take heart from the fact that everything is back on a more positive trajectory. We now look forward to the challenge of the season-opener in Melbourne next weekend.”