There are often times when we one wishes that the first day of practice was competitive. Journalists look at the session times and hope that that might be the way things turn out in qualifying. The drivers and teams, meanwhile, pour scorn on that possibility, saying that there is no way that the order will be remotely similar, and that any thoughts along those lines are misguided.

So we journalists watch the first day of practice and have to accept that it doesn’t mean anything - which is not really what we want to hear. After all, we have to write something and if it’s to be based on fact, then track performance would be a good start. Unfortunately, we have to pick our way through lap times that don’t mean anything, with no help from the teams or drivers, and work out what the story really is.

The president of FIA, Max Mosley, has come up with ideas to make it even more complicated He has told foreign papers that he would like teams to decide whether they are going to test or not, and if they decide not to, then they can run a third car on Fridays at Grands Prix and do their testing that way. It is an interesting theory, made more complicated by the fact that he will also allow the team to change an engine when the one engine rule comes in effect in two years.

So Fridays really will become glorified test sessions, with more cars on circuit, drivers who won’t be racing, and a final hierarchy which will mean even less than it does now. It has its advantages, of course, but it isn’t going to be any more competitive than it is now. Another idea from the president is to place more emphasis and importance on engine suppliers with a third World Championship for them.

He might also like to consider an idea from a friend of mine, Geoff Willis, who revealed his plans to overcome a repeat of the Ferrari shambles in Austria. It’s quite simple, says Geoff. A team whose cars finish behind one another in the order can, half an hour after the race, decide which driver they want to score the most points. That way, the race order can be respected, and team orders can be applied. Seemed quite sensible to me. (Furthemore howabout a return to the old points scoring system whereby only the highest placed car's points count towards the Constructors Championship).

The Austrian shambles, however, rumbles on. Michael Schumacher isn’t being booed here, but Ferrari are fairly surprised that their tactics were so roundly condemned. It hasn’t been handled in the best way by the team, and one has the distinct impression that they won’t do it the same way again, should the need arise. From a public relations standpoint, it has been a disaster in that it wasn’t well thought out in advance. Even the suggestion that they might have apologised to the Austrian chancellor who was meant to present the prize to the winner upset Jean Todt so much that he virtually clammed up, as though he was thinking ‘why didn’t we think of doing that?’ One gets the impression that Todt is a little frustrated that he wasn’t better advised by Ferrari’s public relations department as to the potential hornet’s nest he might be stirring up.

At the same press conference, Eddie Jordan did an about turn on the subject of cost cutting - I leave you to judge what he had to say, but cost cutting is certainly in the minds of several teams. Already it is clear that Minardi and Arrows are in trouble. Tom’s team apparently arrived in Monaco without engines, and it was only when a fair amount of money, said to be $2m changed hands, that Cosworth suddenly handed over the power units. Bernie Ecclestone also told members of the British press that he has helped to bail out Paul Stoddart. Things are clearly not well, with Jordan, Sauber and BAR also cited as potential problem teams.

But Formula One is talking itself up, and not down, and Tom Walkinshaw is one of the first to do that, hiding whatever problems he may have behind a solid Scottish front. He does, at least, have the consolation of having a rugby team that is doing great things at the moment. If only he had the same number of World Championship points as Gloucester scores.

But then not many people have that luxury. Having said that, Michelin have clearly brought a good tyre to Monaco, and that could actually play into the hands of other teams this weekend. But Williams don’t seem to be particularly competitive at this stage, and one of the drivers said that he thought McLaren had a good chance here. I mentioned as such to a senior engineer in the team, suggesting that their lack of top end power would not be such a handicap here and all he muttered was “some mid-range would be nice, too.”