Mugello testing, Caterham’s task ahead and leave those Pirellis alone Michael Schumacher

After the 2012 grands prix to date, there is no doubt three days at Mugello will be of significant use to the teams as they try to work out where to go from here.

No prizes for guessing who topped Tuesday's day one time sheets at the Italian circuit: Ferrari and Fernando Alonso. I suspect the fact Maranello owns the Mugello track may have something to do with that.

Mugello is unique – and as a result, a quick car there is unlikely to translate into a quick car anywhere else. In essence, speed is likely to be – rather paradoxically – irrelevant.

What will be key is for the teams to get more time to learn and understand their cars and how they work in certain ways and at particular combinations of corners and straights.

Sadly, the only real education on Tuesday would have been how the teams' respective chassis coped in the wet. The afternoon saw torrential rain, with the circuit at one point closed through low light and the standing water.

In some ways, a curtailed test might at least leave the same room for unpredictability as the opening four races, with the next grand prix at Barcelona in about 10 days' time.

The down side is limited running for a host of young drivers.

Oliver Turvey, who has previously raced in GP2 for Carleton Rode's Isport, got time in McLaren's MP4-27. Attleborough's Venezuelan racer Rodolfo Gonzalez also got track time with Hingham's Caterham on Tuesday, which was good to see.

But with upgrades now stacked up in garages across the Mugello paddock, it's hard not to hope F1 retains its newfound unpredictability beyond the testing return.

• After the huge media presence, outcry and controversy over whether Formula One should have raced in Bahrain, it almost passed me by that the sport's feeder category, GP2, were out there for a second weekend – this time, racing on their own.

There were just 12 fans on Friday to see the action at Sakhir. Ferrari driver Luca Colajanni made a decent point – one that Norfolk teams like Isport and Caterham Racing probably shared.

He tweeted: 'No moral or security questions/doubts for the GP2 race weekend in Bahrain? Something has changed in one week?'

• That final second can often be the hardest to claw back – and so have found Caterham.

While Marussia and HRT revel in the fact they have gone from seven to just a few seconds per lap behind the leaders in the opening four races, their progress will slow from here.

For Hingham's finest, bridging that final gap has taken 12 months – and counting.

They are now around 0.6 seconds off the midfield in qualifying, and close to ensuring regular finishes on the lead lap. That in itself is a big step forward, as the fewer blue flags thrust in front of you, the quicker you go. The difference they make is huge.

But arguably, F1's gain has been Caterham's loss. While the leaders' progress is modest since 2012's technical changes, the midfield group Caterham are trying so hard to join has made huge strides.

In 2011 it was Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso that Hingham was chasing. This year Sauber have come close to winning a race, while Grove's former world champions have designed a car more in keeping with the team's legacy – and it's delivering points.

It basically means Caterham have a pair of Toro Rossos to aim for – and then the likes of Ferrari!

In fact, after their reliability failure in Australia, Caterham now have to make the most of places like Monaco, Montreal and Monza – otherwise they could find it difficult to overhaul the 14th finish that currently sees Marussia in pole position for 10th in the constructors' championship.

That alone puts the pressure on, more than ever. Here's hoping it works out for them. For the great strides they've made, Norfolk's outfit deserves it.

• Michael Schumacher was undoubtedly frustrated after his unfortunate experience at the Bahrain Grand Prix – which probably explained his dig at the Pirelli tyres.

According the F1 great, the rubber is dictating races too much and forcing drivers to perform within themselves; conserving their efforts rather than pushing the cars.

In translation, maybe Schumacher meant he wants a return to those nice, reliable Bridgestones that never lost performance, barely needed changing and helped Schumi to so many of his Ferrari successes?

In actual fact, Schumacher's successful period was arguably a rare time in F1 when tyre management wasn't really needed.

I had one reservation about cars churning up their rubber – but even that was put to bed by Pirelli chief Paul Hembury. Apparently all the tyres are recycled and used in a cement-making process.

So Schumi, either deal with the tyres or leave us to enjoy the show.