Traction troubles ahead

Ralf Schumacher celebrates his win at Imola

BBC Sport's motor racing correspondent Jonathan Legard looks ahead to this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Suspicion, innuendo, doubt, mistrust. Where would we be without such staples of Formula One life?

Well, as from this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, apparently better off.

Why? Because the re-introduction of traction control will cleanse the grid of all illegal engine systems which may or may not have been at work.

At least that is the idea of the FIA, F1's governing body, and the hope of many leading figures within the sport.

But will this clean-up detract from the spectacle of grand prix racing?

Ralf leads Coulthard in San Marino

Time will tell, for example, if Ralf Schumacher's storming start into the lead at Imola will ever be repeated.

The theory is that traction control - and launch control - will aid all drivers to make the best start possible.

"My grandmother could drive the car without a problem," is Jean Alesi's terse verdict.

"Traction control is just a question of concentration because it is so easy."

Point taken. But remember this as the arguments fly back and back over the next few days.

Ayrton Senna's mind-boggling charge from fifth to first at the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington - surely the best opening lap ever - was achieved with the aid of traction control.

If only Barcelona could serve up something as special.

Traditionally, that does not happen. The race in 1999 did more for lawn mowers than for grand prix fans. It was desperately processional.

Three-way battle

This time promises to be different.

Unlike 1999, when McLaren and Mika Hakkinen held all the cards, Williams are back in the running, making it a three-way battle for the championship.

Ralf Schumacher will be so much stronger for winning the last race.

And surely, surely, on a track where he should be most at home after so much testing, Juan Pablo Montoya will find the reliability to match his speed.

David Coulthard has never made such a positive start to a season, and Mika Hakkinen thrives around the Circuito de Catalunya.

This is Coulthard's most consistent season start

Where better to consign his most sluggish opening since becoming a champion than in Spain? After all, he has won here for the last three years.

The McLaren pair looked most impressive in testing last week at Silverstone - first and second ahead of BAR, Jordan and Williams.

And the man alongside Coulthard at the top of the championship, Michael Schumacher, has every incentive to prove that Ferrari's blistering start to the season was no flash in the pan.

The defending champion is due to have a new car this weekend after intensive testing at Mugello and Fiorano. It is the sixth new Ferrari chassis this season.

The prospect of some brotherly wheel-banging like we had last year in Spain is certainly exciting.

This time, though, the Schumachers could be scrapping for the lead, not 4th and 5th.

Jaguar debut

Formula One has waited many years for such close competition at the front of the grid.

And if Spain could shape the championship like Imola did - what price a Montoya maiden win - maybe traction control will not be such an issue after all.

Keep an eye also on the Jaguar debut of Barcelona-born Pedro de La Rosa, replacing Luciano Burti who has taken Gaston Mazzacane's drive at Prost.

After Niki Lauda's remarks last week that Eddie Irvine needed to be more constructive within the team, here is the first challenge from a driver with no excuse for not knowing the track.