Qualifying already showed a distinct hierarchy amongst the teams. Ferrari messed up when it counted the most, with a nervous set-up under braking that cost both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello dearly. McLaren is fast, no doubt about it, but they also went into qualifying trying to keep things simple, and with Mika Hakkinen in the qualifying form he's been in for the past two seasons now, the silver cars thoroughly deserved to be on the front row.

Jordan was a clear third, with Frentzen and Trulli evenly matched but hardly causing a stir. Then, the rest of the way down the grid, though Arrows were really the only team to have both cars doing similar times, there was enough to show that, on their day, Jaguar is about fourth best. Behind the green machines is a huge gaggle though, comprising of BAR, Benetton, Arrows, Sauber and Williams. Prost and Minardi were clearly lagging. The race would pretty much confirm that order.

As for individual drivers in qualifying, there wasn't much in terms of surprises, except at the very back. Diniz and Herbert can be excused for having problems, while Gaston Mazzacane couldn't reproduce his Friday heroics, when he was 12th fastest. The only real talking point was Jenson Button, whose lack of track time left him 21st. The questions were flying; since when should a Williams and a Minardi share the last row? The race would serve to answer some of these, though.

It was clear from the early laps that the winner would only come from the McLarens or Schumacher. Perhaps Barrichello could have been in with a shout, but both Ferraris made atrocious starts, which cost the Brazilian much more, obviously. With these new compound tyres, which seem to get better as they wear, I think few really entertained the thought of strategy playing too big a part, so it basically was a straight one-stop race. As a result, I got the impression that Schumacher really was pacing himself, waiting to respond to McLaren's challenge, knowing that in reality his Ferrari had the upper hand. Of course it didn't matter in the end since both McLarens retired.

I was surprised that Barrichello couldn't make more of an impression on Frentzen. We know from Rubens' middle stint (thanks to a change of strategy which also didn't matter after both Jordans died) that he had the pace, but he didn't seem to be pushing Heinz-Harald all that hard, as difficult as passing is these days. As a point of comparison, I thought Mika Salo was really harrying Giancarlo Fisichella towards the end. Which brings me to Salo, one of the unsung heroes of the race. At times last year I thought he wasn't fully into it while driving the Ferrari, but his efforts today seemed to stem from some real motivation. Shame about the technical infringement which saw him lose the point for 6th.

I will make special mention of the Williams drivers too. Ralf Schumacher drove a steady race, benefiting most from the pit stops to emerge third. But I eat humble pie in saying that Jenson Button was a revelation. Aggressive on the first lap (when he was most likely to punt someone off through inexperience), he then settled into a rhythm, made up spots as others fell, and was 6th when his engine expired. I for one was hoping he'd finish. BMW have a lot to be pleased about in terms of reliability; expected to be truly woeful, their engines just about lasted the distance.

Of the other teams, all of BAR, Sauber and Benetton look very evenly matched in terms of speed and reliability. None of these teams look like stirring up any real excitement, but their consistency will pick them up some good results. This applies especially to Benetton; currently the only word I can think of to describe their campaign is 'boring'. I can't imagine how Jacques Villeneuve, Ricardo Zonta or the BAR people are feeling right now; on the one hand relieved to have scored four points, on the other, perhaps feeling even more silly over their efforts last year. The trouble for these three teams is that F1 is so close this year, they will constantly be fighting for positions just outside the points, but you need points on the breadline to show for your efforts.

Williams and Arrows have a lot to be excited about, I feel. No, the Williams effort isn't the most dramatic either, but if this is meant to be a year of consolidation, I sense they're going to do that very adequately, thank you very much. The Arrows in practice was spectacular, especially in terms of speed, and even more breathtaking in the race. But two suspension failures over the weekend must be a concern, and any more of that nonsense will surely dampen the drivers' confidence. Jos Verstappen needs confidence to perform; Pedro de la Rosa needs confidence to adjust himself successfully from the back of the pack to midfield running.

The less said about Minardi and Prost the better. We expect Minardi at the back this year for a multitude of reasons, none their fault really, but Prost is in deep, deep trouble. The car looks exceedingly nervous and unreliable. We know from the BAR story last year that inherent problems don't go away as the season progresses. Even right now, I think Jean Alesi is seriously contemplating retirement.

I won't say much about Jaguar; I think they're fourth best but I didn't see enough to judge, but I'm beginning to question if Johnny Herbert will ever get a change of luck. As for Jordan, their unreliability was a shock to the system, but I stick to what I said in the season preview. They are third, that's clear. But they also don't seem to be making ground on the top two. Other teams, like Jaguar, BAR, Williams and Arrows might. I would like to see some real speed improvement from Jordan, and soon.

McLaren are no doubt licking their wounds right now. The cars are speedy, but I think Ron Dennis will be worried, especially on the momentum front. Fast won't be enough if the team doesn't have consistency, confidence and momentum, and they won't have any of those if the car breaks down. Ferrari, on the other hand, have burst out of the blocks, with a solid package that's just as fast. The momentum is all with Maranello, and their 1-2 result justifies their pre-season self-belief. This is a team oozing confidence from every pore, determined to leave the others standing. I for one would not be surprised if Barrichello takes pole at Interlagos.