Bahrain Wednesday Test Times (2/28/07):

1 . F. Massa - Ferrari F2007 - 1:30.640 (+ 0.000 ) - 99 laps
2 . L. Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes MP4-22 - 1:31.178 (+ 0.538 ) - 55 laps
3 . K. Raikkonen - Ferrari F2007 - 1:31.490 (+ 0.850 ) - 93 laps
4 . G. Fisichella - Renault R27 - [...]

Former test driver Heikki Kovalainen says he remains undaunted at the prospect of replacing F1’s reigning double world champion at Renault this year.

In an interview with his country’s widely read newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the rookie Finn said that after travelling to every grand prix in 2006, he did not observe Spaniard Alonso doing anything “magical [...]

The Dubai company Union Properties intends to borrow $1.6 billion from banks to build official formula one theme parks, the financial news service Bloomberg reports this week.

It was suggested late last year that the first ‘Formula One World’, to be built in Dubai and completed in 2008, would cost $360m.
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Ralf Schumacher sat out most of Tuesday’s running at the final test of the pre-season after sustaining a back injury.
On his thirty seventh lap, the German driver’s Toyota bounced over a kerb during a spin, aggravating a muscle.
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Mere hours after surviving probably the biggest crash of the 2007 pre-season, Finnish rookie Heikki Kovalainen has vowed to not let the prospect of making mistakes slow his F1 debut.
Renault’s Pat Symonds said recently that he expected the 25-year-old, who is replacing reigning back to back world champion Fernando Alonso this year, to have a [...]

Contrary to the original schedule, Fernando Alonso has elected to stay in Bahrain for the final two days of pre-season testing after seeing Ferrari’s invigorated pace with its definitive bodywork package on Tuesday, we have learned.
By a margin of nearly six tenths, the Spaniard was outpaced by Felipe Massa as a final three days of [...]

Ferrari did not pursue Fernando Alonso because Jean Todt said he thought Kimi Raikkonen was a better fit for the team.
It is rumoured that Ferrari never again negotiated with F1’s reigning back to back world champion after the Spaniard’s management turned down an offer of a test drive up to seven years ago.
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After Michelin pulled out of formula one in protest of the control-tyre rules, the French company is once again at loggerheads with the sport’s governing body.
Through its American brand BFGoodrich, Michelin is the leading supplier in the FIA’s World Rally Championship, but has missed out to Pirelli after tendering for the three year supply contract [...]

Driver error almost certainly caused Heikki Kovalainen’s huge shunt at Bahrain on Tuesday morning, we have learned.
An eyewitness report from turn-7 at the Sakhir circuit said the Finn’s Renault spun out of control on its twentieth lap of the over the kerbs under power.
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BMW is likely to “compromise” some of its 2007 car’s speed for better reliability for the season-opening Australian grand prix.
That is the revelation of Polish driver Robert Kubica, whose concerns about the fragility of the F1.07 racer apparently continued in Bahrain on Tuesday when he broke down twice on the way to setting the fourth [...]