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POKER IS suddenly the big new cable television success story, so at a time when no self-respecting bar-room comic lacks an "F1 is so boring" joke in his repertoire, it was useful that practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix turned into a high-speed game of poker here yesterday.

Not even Felipe Massa, who held the high cards and set the fastest time in his Sauber-Petronas, could really be sure of his true position in the pecking order.

"At the moment we are not 100 per cent sure where we are," the Brazilian admitted after fending off the McLaren-Mercedes of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen, and the Toyotas of Ricardo Zonta and Ralf Schumacher, "but it's encouraging."

Others were rather less encouraged according to their individual fortune, but they all agreed on one thing - itself something of a miracle in the current climate of political unrest - and that was that nobody really knows yet where they stand.

The new rules demanding engines that last two races and allowing only one set of tyres per weekend, allied to an opening race in Australia which did not tax the tyres to their limit, have created a situation far removed from 2004. This time last year Ferrari had already stamped their authority on the season. After complaints about the predictability of the sport in recent years, this is welcome news.

Yesterday the red cars finished only seventh and 16th, with Rubens Barrichello again shading Michael Schumacher. Both Barrichello and Raikkonen spun their cars into gravel traps, but were able to resume at the end of the session - once their machines had been recovered and cleaned up - and to improve their times.

Schumacher, meanwhile, appeared to be in trouble with a lap 1.6sec slower than Massa's. But that was part of the bluff, 2005 style, because he actually ran throughout on worn tyres.

"My times in the first practice and Rubens' performance this afternoon are a better indication of our true level," the champion said. Nevertheless Ferrari have the option of bringing forward the debut of their new car from Spain in May to Bahrain in early April.

Nor were Renault, the winners in Australia, particularly quick, with the championship leader Giancarlo Fisichella sixth and Fernando Alonso ninth, but neither of them bothered to do a timed lap in the morning, and then confined themselves to only 16 and 15 laps respectively in the afternoon.

Everyone anticipates a very tough race with up to 60C (140F) track temperature, so where possible the plan was to conserve both their engines and tyres. As the Renault engineer Pat Symonds conceded: "I don't think Friday these days is terribly exciting." Certainly it wasn't for the fans in the grandstands who had paid good money to watch cars and drivers staying in the pits as much as possible.

Renault, McLaren and Ferrari are the most likely contenders for pole position tomorrow and, consequently, for the race itself, when the real truths of 2005 will finally start to emerge.

A definitive pecking order is not the only thing gently simmering beneath the surface in Sepang's broiling heat. Bernie Ecclestone is here, making an improved offer to the non-Ferrari teams to sign up to the new Concorde Agreement he plans from 2008 onwards.

The teams - BAR, Renault, Williams-BMW, McLaren, Sauber, Red Bull- Cosworth, Toyota, Jordan-Toyota and Minardi-Cosworth - say they are prepared to listen to what he has to say, but just in case anyone doubts their solidarity they issued a trenchant statement yesterday slamming Ferrari. Back in October they agreed to limit their own testing, hoping that Ferrari would be shamed into doing likewise, but yesterday they learned that the Scuderia have been testing their new car in Mugello even while their race team are in Malaysia.

"Ferrari's actions not only potentially destabilise Formula One and increase costs," the unsigned statement read, "but also provide Ferrari with an unequal advantage over all the other teams. Inevitably, such actions can only increase costs within Formula One and undermine the principle of a level playing field in the sport."

This ongoing acrimony is all part of an altogether much bigger F1 poker game which is being played for the highest stakes - control of the future of the sport - and none of the players are blinking yet.

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Sepang) Second practice: 1 F Massa (Bra) Sauber- Petronas, 19 laps, 1min 35.608sec; 2 J P Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes, 13, 1:35.620; 3 *R Zonta (Bra) Toyota, 30, 1:35.677; 4 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes, 6, 1:35.719; 5 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota, 16, 1:35.838; 6 G Fisichella (It) Renault, 16, 1:35.841; 7 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari, 7, 1:35.949; 8 J Button (GB) BAR-Honda, 19, 1:35.992; 9 F Alonso (Sp) Renault, 15, 1:36.103; 10 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Cosworth, 20, 1:36.575; 11 J Trulli (It) Toyota, 18, 1:36.841; 12 C Klien (Aut) Red Bull, 19, 1:36.968; 13 *P de la Rosa (Sp) McLaren, 31, 1:37.033; 14 T Sato (Japan) BAR- Honda, 18, 1:37.044; 15 N Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW, 17, 1:37.067; 16 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari, 22, 1:37.270; 17 *R Doornbas (Monaco) Jordan- Toyota, 23, 1:37.878; 18 J Villeneuve (Can) Sauber- Petronas, 19, 1:38.121; 19 N Karthikeyan (India) Jordan, 21, 1:38.855; 20 *V Liuzzi (It) Red Bull, 18, 1:39.349; 21 T Monteiro (Port) Jordan, 21, 1:39.755; 22 P Friesacher (Aut) Minardi- Cosworth, 19, 1:40.940; 23 C Albers (Neth) Minardi, 16, 1:41.156. Not Classified: M Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW, 2 laps. *denotes test driver.