A mechanic from the McLaren team then bumped into his opposite number from Ferrari who refused to move away and kept looking at their rival's car. The duo engaged in a brief spot of argy-bargy which was caught on camera at the Sepang track.

"I didn't see it, but I know the guy (from Ferrari) concerned and his body language is always pretty infuriating," said McLaren team boss Ron Dennis.

"But it is a pit-lane. He is not the traditional tyre-spotter and we all live with each other's tyre spotters.

"He is an assistant aerodynamicist and therefore he was coming down, looking at what we were doing and generally being a bit of a nosey-parker.

"There is nothing in the regulations to stop that happening but when you step back over him as, in this instance, one of our guys did then in this heat, with a bit of jet-lag, the sympathy is not there."

Of the verbal exchange which took place after Friday's free practice, Dennis added: "I think it was relatively short words encouraging him to go back where he belonged."

Asked if he would send one of his crew to 'spy' on developments on the Ferrari, Dennis quipped: "No, we would just take a very accurate photograph."