Iceman sends out a red-hot warning to rivals

High hopes and fear of failure were rampant in equal measure before, during and after the Formula One season opener in Australia.

And those mixed feelings occupied the attention of the variously affected, both hopefully positive and fearfully negative, as the teams headed from Melbourne to Malaysia for round two in what is already shaping up as an intriguing title tussle to come.

Backstage in Kuala Lumpur the boffins will be studying their tell-tale and jealousy guarded spreadsheets and computer read-outs seeking performance comfort zones and answers to the problems posed and suffered by their drivers during the first race.

The worries of the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes will have been exacerbated by the triumph of relative outsider Kimi Raikkonen in the Renault-engined Lotus, mainly due, I must emphasise, to the wily Finn’s risking of two pit stops instead of three as did most of the others.

Nonetheless, the former champion’s ability and daring and his car’s pace registered enough concern to have their rivals frowning and crucially seeking solutions to what could become a serious threat in the title countdown.

The variance of inner thoughts after the Australian clash reflected the feelings of the drivers, from the least experienced on one grand prix, Max Chilton, and the most, Jenson Button, on 229 with 15 victories.

That last figure is one he fears he may be stuck on for a while, Button admitted. He said: “We are just not quick enough and we’ve got a lot of work to do before we are properly competitive. But we have been in bad positions before and come back strong.”

In contrast Marussia’s new boy Chilton, 17th of 18 finishers, was more upbeat when he said: “I’m happy with my debut. It wasn’t straightforward, but I’ve learned a lot that I’ll be able use to take my fight to the midfield pack.”

Mercedes’ poach from McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, triumphed over pre-race doubt with a fifth place and made the following happy comment: “I’m happy because the car felt good.”

What about the pre-season hot favourites? Red Bull’s three-time champion Sebastian Vettel, third on Sunday, cautiously opined: “A pole and a podium have made me pretty pleased. Not a bad weekend and we move on from there.”

His partner, veteran Mark Webber, probably in his last season with the all-conquering outfit, suffered a pit-stop setback that relegated him to sixth, but he said cheerfully: “We managed to salvage something in the end and we go to Malaysia knowing we have a good car.”

Fernando Alonso, last season’s runner-up and twice the champion, reckons the Ferrari he took to second place Down Under is a vast improvement on the 2012 challenger and will be a major threat this year.

“I am sure I will be up there with the frontrunners if we can avoid making any mistakes and perform perfectly,” was his succinct summary.

I cannot imagine anybody, avidly supportive F1 fan, rival driver or team boss, disputing the brilliant Spaniard’s outlook.

But what about ‘The Iceman’ Raikkonen? Write him off at your peril is the warning message flashing the length of pit lane, especially when he says with deadpan delivery: “That was one of the easiest wins of my career.”