Ferrari have gagged their two drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa from talking to the media amid rising speculation that things are not well with the biggest team in F1.

It was the major talking point on the penultimate day of the final testing session in Barcelona as the teams made frantic last-minute adjustments before the opening race of the season, which will take place in Melbourne a week next Sunday.

But significant updates to the Red Bull car also distracted a number of the other teams in the paddock. Meanwhile, Jenson Button, who took over from Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren car, was frustrated by hydraulic trouble in the morning before posting the second quickest time of the day in the afternoon.

Ferrari, however, dominated the gossip, just as they had done on Friday night when a tweeting rumour suggested that Massa had been sacked by the team.

Those stories were completely unfounded. But the Italian press has reacted angrily to the gagging of Alonso and Massa. Massa was due to talk here after his final drive of the weekend in Barcelona, while double world champion Alonso was expected to speak on Sunday.

Ferrari said on Twitter: "We're not very popular in the press room at the moment as we've announced that there will not be any drivers' press meetings at this test. The decision has been taken to keep the whole team fully focused on the job and there is not any polemic intent behind it."

It was a particularly unpopular decision not just with the Italian but also the Spanish media; Alonso is mobbed whenever he is in action in his native Spain.

Last season Ferrari were a distant third in the championship behind the winners Red Bull and McLaren. They lacked innovation and, for most part, seemed happy to copy Red Bull.

New technical director Pat Fry has made some comparatively radical changes to this year's car. But there have been suggestions that it has proved difficult to drive in the three testing sessions, and though Massa did put in a fast time it was on the super-soft tyres. Fry said recently: "We have a lot of work to do."

Meanwhile there are fears among all Red Bull's pursuers that they are once again falling behind.

When the Red Bull car went out today it had incorporated "some exciting new parts", according to driver Mark Webber. The car appeared to have a new front wing and even a new remodelled chassis. "It's effectively a completely new car," commented Gary Anderson, the BBC technical analyst.