British Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, takes a curve on his McLaren during a training session at Catalunya's racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, last Wednesday.- REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters):

With only a month to go before the season starts in Australia, on March 18, and teams packing up after the last Test of the European winter, Formula One is looking east.

The final two official test sessions will be in Bahrain, from February 22 to 24 and February 27 to March 1, with most teams in attendance.

Warmer conditions, and cars decked out for the first time with Melbourne-specification aerodynamic packages, should give a clearer picture of who's hot and who's not.

The body of evidence so far suggests that McLaren, with double champion Fernando Alonso arriving from Renault alongside British rookie Lewis Hamilton, are looking much sharper than last year.

Ferrari, with Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, are right up with them, while BMW Sauber have got some of their rivals distinctly rattled. Champions Renault are also there or thereabouts.

BMW SURPRISE

Former race-winner, Gerhard Berger, now the Toro Rosso co-owner, and Massa, twice a winner last season, have highlighted BMW's potential already.

"The McLaren definitely looks quick but for me, the BMW is the best of all at the moment," the Ferrari driver told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper last week.

"The McLaren is the quickest over a single lap, but BMW are impressively consistent ... For now, I put them ahead of Ferrari and McLaren."

BMW driver, Nick Heidfeld, suggested, however, that rivals were maybe focusing on his team's prospects to take some of the pressure off themselves.

"It's nice to hear people saying how fast we are but we still do not know really," he told the Autosport website (www.auto sport.com). "Until Melbourne, no one knows what each team is doing."

One thing the timesheets have highlighted is that the battle is close, with the top teams often separated by remarkably little.

"We're good, but so are the others," Spaniard Alonso told reporters at the Circuit de Catalunya, this week.

"The differences are very small ... it's very equal and no-one knows what's going on, because there's a surprise every day and you get a bit confused, so we'll have to wait until Australia," added the 25-year-old.

Whispers suggest that Honda, fourth overall last season after a breakthrough win in Hungary with Briton Jenson Button, may not have the quickest car on the block despite high expectations.

"We're confident in what we're doing. We're not as quick as McLaren, Ferrari or BMW, but we think we're ahead of Renault," engineering director, Jacky Eeckelaert, told Autosport magazine.

Barrichello and Button were only 13th and 14th at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday, with the timesheets placing the Brazilian behind Honda-backed Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson on Monday.

However, Barrichello did far fewer laps and times can be misleading, with teams going through different programmes. What looks like a mechanical breakdown could be nothing more than the team testing the capacity of the fuel tank.

TEETHING PROBLEMS

Williams, emerging from their worst season in more than 30 years, would appear to have reason to feel optimistic after their new Toyota-powered car ran reliably and with an impressive turn of speed.

Berger's Toro Rosso did its first lap on Wednesday while this week also saw Ferrari-powered Spyker take part in their first proper test of the year.

Super Aguri will not reveal what is sure to be a controversial new car, and one bearing a close resemblance to last year's Honda, until the Monday before Melbourne.

Adrian Newey's much-vaunted first car for Red Bull has had evident teething problems, with Australian Mark Webber finding it a tight fit and sidelined for much of Wednesday with a drive train problem.

But David Coulthard was quickest on the same day at the Circuit de Catalunya, a fact that may or not have been connected with a visit by the team's billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

"It is an often cited statement that setting quick lap times in winter testing means nothing at all come the start of the season, often cited by the slowest runners that is," said a wry Red Bull statement afterwards.

"But right or wrong, a quick lap time sure is good for morale."