It's muggy, overcast and hot in Malaysia, and yet somehow these guys manage to continue to perform magnificently in this oppressive - to Europeans anyway - climate. And what a strange day we've seen. It started with the Bridgestone runners very much in control and whether he likes it or not, Pierre Dupasquier of Michelin looked worried.

But then nine minutes into the afternoon session, Kimi Raikkonen took over at the front and when he was joined by David Coulthard soon after, the balance of power had changed. Suddenly Ralf Schumacher was up there too, Juan Pablo Montoya wasn't far away and suddenly Mika Salo leaped in with fifth fastest. Michelin ruled.

Up until that moment, the Ferraris had been neatly backed up by occasional visitors to the top ten like Enrique Bernoldi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen(these days) and Nick Heidfeld. But suddenly they were pushed sideways as the Michelin tide turned and the Frenchmen took over. Only Michael Schumacher as a Bridgestone runner remained in the top six at the end of the day and in the next four, there were only two more Bridgestone runners.

Now I know that tyres aren't the most enthralling subject, but they are a vital one. If a company gets it right, it works well for all its teams - or more specifically, if they get it wrong, it works badly for all its teams. So we were all watching who would get it right, who wrong. And clearly, as more rubber went down, so the Michelin runners were able to pick up the pace.

Now consider two things. First of all, there has been almost no running on this track prior to the start of practice. Therefore, there was virtually no rubber down on the track at all. Secondly, it has rained since the end of practice today, so that any rubber that may have been down, has been washed away. And furthermore - or is that thirdly - conditions are expected to be mixed this weekend; there's no guarantee whatsoever that we are not heading into a weekend of weather just as mixed as that in Melbourne.

Now this may mean nothing at all of course, and that there is an entirely different status quo, but just maybe the Bridgestones are going to work better on a 'fresh' and even dirty surface than on a 'rubbered' surface. If the sudden switch in fortunes is anything to go by, then that could well be the situation when the conditions change.

On other fronts, however, not a great deal has changed. We saw a lot spinners on the dirty surface, with dramas for David Coulthard which saw him push his car down the pitlane for an unspecified distance in this cruel heat. Michael had a couple of spins, Salo pulled out another performance as in Melbourne. Renault are in the top ten again, Jaguar look pretty iffy and Jordan are less promising than they were as are BAR. Of the others, poor old Mark Webber has come down to earth with a bang after his Australian glories but he's a good gritty Aussie and he's big enough to take it on the chin. He's a got a big enough character not to need it to be character-building!

Off-circuit, we have the excitement of further legal wranglings over the supposed Phoenix team, but there's no doubt that something exists. Tarso Marques was in the paddock today, Phoenix's temporary PR is lurking somewhere, and something is locked away in a garage somewhere nearby.

And looming on the horizon are meetings of the World Council and the Formula One Commission next week, with votes over the future of Formula One. It is a crucial time, when you think about it: the control of the whole Formula is in doubt with the Kirch Group likely to sell it to someone(Ecclestone, manufacturers or Murdoch?); there are efforts to limit costs, to change the structure of the weekend; Ferrari look as though they should dominate - again; and the number of journalists applying for passes is going down, questioning the sport's popularity.

But in the next week or so, we should know more. Let's hope it's all heading in the right direction. But for the moment, we have to look at what's likely to happen here in Kuala Lumpur and however good McLaren might have been today, it could still be Ferrari for the next two days!