Motor Sport/BahrainGrandPrix: It was always going to be a tall order, even for an organisation as ruthlessly efficient as Ferrari. After the drubbings handed out to the Scuderia's 2004 car by Renault in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur, the Italian team announced they would unveil their new F2005 car in Bahrain.

It would be the start of a renaissance.

As Renault's Fernando Alonso blazed through the ferocious desert heat, measured yesterday at an infernal 45 degrees, to a second successive victory and a commanding championship lead, Ferrari were left feverishly pleading that Rubens Barrichello, in a F20005 troubled by gearbox problems, fading tyres and torched brakes, could hold on to eighth place and a single point.

On the final lap he succumbed, reeled in by Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard. And Michael Schumacher? A memory lost in the heat haze - the world champion out of the race 45 laps earlier, driving his Ferrari into the team's garage after running straight on at turn 10. The German later blamed the problem on a hydraulic failure caused by debris damaging the air filter.

In the end it was too much for Ferrari to hope for that advancing the introduction of their new machine by five weeks would result in anything but difficulty. But as Schumacher later offered, they had expected as much. Trouble was always on the horizon under such desperate circumstances. But the shade enveloping the team had a silver lining, he insisted. The car, he claimed, is good, the wave of the future and, crucially, the match, in terms of pace for Alonso's top-of-the-pile Renault.

"For sure I have to be disappointed with not finishing the race," said Schumacher. "But it was absolutely the right decision to bring the new car. Up until I retired the car was very competitive as I'm sure it will be in the coming races."

The race-winning Spaniard admitted as much, too, saying that in the early phases of the race, he had been concerned that Schumacher was never more than eight tenths of a second adrift of him and that the gap showed no sign of widening until Schumacher encountered the debris that ended his race.

Despite the admission the Renault driver added that despite Schumacher's close attendance, he felt he always had something in reserve, a car advantage that allowed him not only to see off Schumacher but also the challenge of second-placed Jarno Trulli, who ended the race some 13 seconds behind the Spaniard.

Just as BAR were the surprise package of last season, Toyota are shaping up to be this season's unfamiliar face at the feast. After four seasons of profligate fruitlessness, the Japanese giants are finally beginning to understand how to build a Formula One car.

Yesterday, Trulli took his second second place of the season, while team-mate Ralf Schumacher battled through to take fourth, unable to wrestle past McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen after an almost race-long duel.

"After Malaysia, I thought we would be competitive and to claim our second consecutive podium is fantastic," said Trulli. "I realised midway through the race that it was futile to try and catch Fernando and we were safely in second, which is tremendous for everyone in the team."

For Raikkonen it was something of vindication. The Finn has had a turbulent start to his season, being involved in some unfortunate dealings with the tabloid media, but yesterday Raikkonen kept his head and claimed six valuable points.

But he was almost eclipsed in style by his stand-in team-mate Pedro de la Rosa. The Spaniard had been drafted in to replace Juan Pablo Montoya after the Colombian cracked a shoulder blade playing tennis and yesterday the test-driver drove a real racer's race. Aggressive, quick, though sometime over-zealous and balancing precariously on the ragged edge of coming unstuck, de la Rosa claimed a thrilling fifth place.

Closing out the points were Williams' Mark Webber in sixth, followed by Sauber's Felipe Massa, with Coulthard claiming the final point from the struggling Barrichello on the final lap.

Ferrari yesterday vowed to up the ante. With three weeks now until the season return to its European heartland at Imola, the Italian team said they will test the new car every day in the run-up to the event. Renault still look confident. Three weeks though is a long, long time in Formula One.