Last week saw F1's first testing session of 2015, as eight teams decamped to Spain's Jerez circuit in a bid to (a) gain some valuable development miles or (b) pretend they're much faster than they really are.

It's notoriously difficult to read anything into pre-season testing, but, for what it's worth, Ferrari topped the timesheets on three of the four days, with Mercedes clocked the highest mileage. Lewis and Nico managed a combined 516 laps - McLaren, in contrast, completed just 79 laps.

But what's the big news from the pit lane? Jason Barlow investigates F1's pre-season questions...

Are Ferrari back in business?

TG.com watched Kimi's very first lap in his 2012 Lotus E20 at Jerez, and he didn't look like a guy who'd just had two years out of a Formula One car. He was immediately and visibly on it.

We were standing two feet away from the nose of his Ferrari as it exited the pit garage for the first time at Jerez last year. We were right there, too, when a Seat Toledo taxi dropped him back 20 minutes later because the new car had conked out after barely half a lap. Things didn't get much better...

Now we're not saying that Kimi is transparent, but whatever fuel load Ferrari were running last week - possibly little more than vapour - Raikkonen's body language and comments alone suggest that 2015 should see a Ferrari turnaround.

"I had a good feeling straightaway when I went out. We've improved in all areas," he said. He later topped the time sheets, which may have been smoke and mirrors but still looked cool.

The word is that Ferrari has found up to 80bhp more than last year's donkey managed, and they've improved driveability, too. Sauber's pace, using the same engine, backs that up. Ferrari's SF-15T (like FXXK, it showcases Ferrari's interesting new naming policy) has been overseen by one of F1's biggest brains, James Allison.

But those eye-catching lap times might have more to do with the arrival of new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, a former Philip Morris/Marlboro F1 sponsorship overlord, and a member of the powerful F1 commission.

All in all, we're making no wild predictions for 2015. But expect more when Valteri Bottas joins Vettel at Ferrari for next year...

Can anyone get close to Mercedes?

Fresh from impressing TG.com at a Silverstone filming day, Mercedes went on to impress everyone else in Jerez.

The team ran heavy on fuel, working through what aerodynamic, electrical and reliability issues they had, and were able to simulate race distances rather than seeking Twitter-friendly headline-grabbing lap times.

In the end, Mercedes racked up 516 laps - that's 1419 miles - and rubbed salt in the wound by even finding time to practice their pit stops, while some of their rivals were still trying to find the light switch in the garage.

Come the final pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya on March 1st, Lewis or Nico on the soft rubber, with the 2015-spec engine turned up, might be encouraged to fire in a properly representative lap time. And if they do, grown men in Maranello, Woking and Milton Keynes will be weeping.

Can McLaren-Honda bring back the good old days?

TG.com has a long memory and doesn't mind a bit of shameless nostalgia. So, like Fernando Alonso, we can see the appeal of racing a McLaren powered by a Honda engine, and regard Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost's all-conquering 1988 MP4/4 as one of the most beautiful objects of all time.

With ex-Red Bull Adrian Newey protégé Pete Prodromou on-board, the 2015 McLaren Honda MP4-30 is certainly pretty, and the rear end has all the hallmarks of tightly-waisted aerodynamic envelope-pushing. But it also only managed 79 laps at Jerez, and appeared worryingly slow through the speed traps.

We have total faith that McLaren will get there, but doing it this year looks like a big ask. So it's over to Alonso, whose genius at the wheel has not been backed up by that other great skill: making sure you're in the right place at the right time. Ron Dennis is at pains to point out that his returning superstar is locked into a long-term deal at McLaren.

But would anyone really be that surprised if he and Lewis Hamilton switched places for next season?

Will Marussia/Manor make it to Melbourne?

At last week's F1 Strategy Group Meeting, Marussia's bid to return was vetoed, Force India's deputy team principal Bob Fernley copping the flak for a decision all present would have made any way.

The sticking point, unsurprisingly, is the redistribution of the £30m revenue earned by the team last year which, when divvied up, would mean more to the allegedly cash-strapped Force India than any of the big guns. Rebranded as Manor - the name the team originally used when it arrived in 2010 - the team insists it can still make the grid in Melbourne, racing last year's car, with the safety-mandated changes to the front of the chassis and nose.

The whole debacle raises the perennial question of self-interest in F1, as well as the ongoing problem of a severely depleted grid.

"I'd like to see Marussia/Manor on grid, but only if it's credible/professional/adds value to F1," Martin Brundle tweeted. "Plus debts to previous people/companies paid."

It's difficult to disagree with that sentiment, as much as we'd love to see the team back in business.

Are 1000bhp engines in the pipeline?

Nico Rosberg was cool on the idea when TG.com spoke to him recently. But the other big talking point at the F1 Strategy Group meeting - at which all the bosses were present, including Ferrari's Sergio Marchionne - was the proposed increase to a 1000bhp power output.

Increasing the fuel flow rate on the latest gen V6 hybrid engines, and upping the amount of fuel available during a race, are relatively easy solutions to this requirement. The teams are now evaluating the proposal, primarily with an eye on how much it's likely to cost, and the idea could be good to go for 2017.

Bernie Ecclestone is keen to make it happen, while Niki Lauda has suggested that F1 cars are currently just too easy to drive. Ahead of that expect wider Pirelli rubber for next year, and a revamped look for the cars, with more downforce promised.

Ferrari, in particular, is making noise about a wholesale reimagining of the F1 car's aesthetic. What would you like to see from 2017's F1 cars?