Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro is already hard at work at the Sepang circuit, outside the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, preparing for the third round of the world championship, which it currently leads in both the Drivers' and Constructors' categories.

"Back-to-backs," the term applied to Grands Prix on consecutive weekends present a tough logistical challenge, which all the teams undertake in conjunction with FOM, (Formula One Management) who are responsible for shipping cars and equipment from one race to the next.

Late on Sunday night in Albert Park, the entire team set about re-preparing the two race cars and packing everything into containers.

"Once packed, all the containers are positioned in the pit lane, from where trucks take everything to the airport," explains Massimo Balocchi, the team's head of logistics. "We provide all the Customs documentation and FOM does the rest. Then, in Sepang, the reverse process takes place with the equipment delivered from Kuala Lumpur airport, ready for the team to start work on Tuesday. Not all the material we use goes by air.”

“In order to save time and money, at the start of the year, in January, we send four separate container loads to Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia and China. These contain much of the infrastructure we need to use, but not the technical equipment or car parts. These containers then return by sea to Europe, where they are repacked and then dispatched again to the last races of the season."

Balocchi is also in charge of all personnel movements for a team of around 65 people - the 45 permitted to actually work on the cars and the additional press, marketing and Paddock Club staff.

"We always try and stay in a maximum of two hotels at each race," says Balocchi. "That makes the logistics easier in terms of how many cars we use to move around. We have an agreement with Europcar and the local FIAT importers also help on this front. As for the hotel bookings, I normally do this one year in advance, so for example, I have already discussed our 2011 requirements in Melbourne with the hotels this week."