As if things weren't complicated enough, and they are complicated, it appears the weather gods are seeking to add to the fun and throw a spanner in the works.

As driver struggle (literally) to understand the new cars, it should be remembered that in pre-season testing there was very little wet running, consequently the spots of rain beginning to fall here, and the ominous dark clouds closing in, are of great concern.

Think especially of Lotus. Already under the cosh, the Enstone outfit didn't attend the Jerez test therefore it has had no wet running. Then again, some of you might rightly point out that the black and gold cars have had precious little dry running.

As expected, Mercedes has been setting the pace thus far, Lewis Hamilton yesterday and teammate Nico Rosberg this morning. Indeed, the German was 1.3s ahead of his closest rival (Jenson Button) this morning and such was his confidence he (and his teammate) were out of their cars and 'relaxing' long before the end of the session.

Ignoring the weather gods, it would be a very brave man who would risk more than a few coins on the outcome of today's session, or indeed tomorrow's race. Despite Mercedes pace and reliability the one thing we can be certain of this year is that nothing is certain.

That said, the Mercedes powered teams are looking very good and over the course of the season the works outfit can expect a strong challenge from McLaren, Williams and even Force India.

At Ferrari, Fernando Alonso appears to be settling into the new-style F1 quicker than his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen already showing signs of frustration.

However, the Finn's problems are nothing compared to those of his former teammate Romain Grosjean as Lotus seemingly lurches from one problem to another.

Even though it's the first race of the season, drivers are already paying the price in terms of reliability, Bottas and Gutierrez both incurring 5-place grid penalties after their teams opted to change the gearboxes on their cars.

Pastor Maldonado and Marcus Ericsson both had ERS changes heading in to final practice this morning though they are not penalised as they are able to use another of the five units available. Nonetheless, such issues so early in the season are a cause for concern.

With so many unknowns - and that includes the weather - it would be foolish to even try and predict the outcome of today's session, other than that it will probably be a Mercedes driver - or Mercedes-powered driver - on pole.

Many of the others out there, including some of the big names, will be happy simply to get through the session without any problems.

Air temperature is 26 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. It is dry but very windy. The dark, worrying clouds are still hovering tantalisingly.

With an eye on those very clouds, the Mercedes duo are side by side at the end of the pitlane and when the lights go green Hamilton heads his teammate on to the track. Button follows close behind ahead of Alonso, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Perez.

As Hamilton begins his first flying lap, all but Vettel are on track.

The Mercedes driver posts the benchmark (31.699) however this is soon beaten by Massa (31.549). However, whereas Hamilton is on mediums, the Brazilian is on softs. Vettel, now on track, is also on softs.

Magnussen goes second, putting a broad grin on Ron Dennis' face, while a 30.775 sees Ricciardo go quickest.

Alonso is told to pit and change to softs, the Spaniard, concerned at the weather, replies: "OK, but quickly".

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Podge, 15/03/2014 21:04

"Hamilton said the same. There'll be "lots of lifting and coasting, and short-shifting". These cars look absolute animals to drive on the limit which is a sure fire way to root out the best of the best, but we won't get any sign of that in the race as, once again, the best drivers in the world are forced to go at 7/10ths.

But hey, hopefully I'll be eating my words tomorrow post-race. It's just a shame that it seems set up to reward the driver who can get through a corner with the least application of throttle, rather than the driver who can fly through the corner the fastest."

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2. Posted by speedphotos, 15/03/2014 15:39

" This from Jensen Button,
"The long runs weren't as much fun as I'd hoped they'd be, because you need to save a lot of fuel. And that's such a different way of driving - you're lifting off very early, and there's lots of lift-and-coasting around the lap. On low fuel, however, it's really fun to drive."
I cannot believe this, next we will hear about who has the best coasting technique to get to the last part of the race where then the low fuel allows real racing. Maybe the question (as in basketball) should be, why not eliminate the first part of the race/game and just go to the part that counts?
"

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Hamilton breaks Australia's heart in thrilling qualifying session

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