F1: Alonso spurs bucking bronco up grid in Spanish GP qualifying

Arriving in Barcelona, Ferrari, in need of some good press, announced that Fernando Alonso had signed to remain with the team until 2016, a move that Alonso said would see him to the end of his F1 career.

And in Italian media, was in a battling mood: surprisingly defensive - and aggressive - about his leadership at Ferrari. While outside Italy, his comments were seen as all mouth and trousers, in Italy, it boosted the way the Tifosi see the future of the team. They waited for the promised improvements in Spain.

The euphoria didn't last long: a new rear with assembly was installed for Friday's practice but it failed scrutineering for being over-height. Ferrari countered with an argument that new flaps were not actually part of the wing and therefore should not be included in the overall height calculation. The Stewards called in the FIA's Charlie Whiting for a final decision. His response was, in essence, nice try boys but the rules in racing are simple: if it doesn't say you can do it, you can't. He said it was clever but not in the spirit of the rules.

So Ferrari had to re-install the rear-wings used in Turkey.

Despite many, many changes, the car still handles like a dog trying to run on a frozen lake.

Alonso, regardless of what one thinks of his personality, once again proved that he can drive beyond the limitations of the car.

Massa, who does a superb job in a desperately poor car, looks hopelessly outshone: it's not a fair assessment; there is probably no other driver currently in F1 that could make this season's Ferrari work : Alonso doesn't make it work - he just ignores its faults, predicts its unpredictability, and puts the car in the wrong place knowing that the contrary machine will not go there, instead going where he actually wants it to go.

That's not being a racing driver: it's being a magician.