Sakhir, Schumacher, Michelin & HockenheimA crowd of 40,000 watched Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher battle it out for Bahrain GP victory on Sunday. It`s a 6,000 increase over last year, bringing the three-day total up to 77,000 fans.
Michael Schumacher has denied that he might follow Jean Todt into principals` meetings next season as a Formula One team owner. The Ferrari racer told RTL television: "Jean spends at least six days a week behind a desk, for twelve to fourteen hours every day. I couldn`t do that."
Michelin may not quit formula one at the end of 2006. McLaren`s Ron Dennis told Speed TV in Bahrain that it is not `beyond the realms of possibility` that the French marque might have a change of heart and stick around next year. "We`d love them to continue," said Dennis.
Renault has backed away from suggestions that the team could protest against Ferrari`s allegedly flexible rear wing. After his driver, Fernando Alonso, beat Michael Schumacher in Bahrain, engineering director Pat Symonds said Renault would `try to avoid` making a formal complaint to the FIA.
But, suggesting that a more rigorous wing `flex` test might be required, he told Speed TV: "I think there are a number of teams wondering where the limits lie."
The fate of embattled German GP venue Hockenheim has been put in the hands of a football chief. Rene C. Jaeggi, in charge of a German team, has signed up to be Hockenheim`s new managing director in 2007, after debts at the circuit rose to $35m. However, he did not confirm the appointment. "I have a contract with FCK (FC Kaiserslauten)," he told the SID agency, "and will say something at an appropriate time."
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