Ralf Schumacher marked his 29th birthday on Wednesday knowing that his career with the Williams team may be over. Doctors in Germany said that he sustained two cracked vertebrae when he crashed at the United States Grand Prix on June 20. Doctors have forecast that Schumacher may be unable to race for up to 12 weeks.

China’s track is in a swamp, while Bahrain’s gone sticky in the rush to jump on Ecclestone’s formula one money-go-round. The new circuits in China and Bahrain have been designed by Hermann Tilke, who also built Malaysia’s new circuit, as the sport penetrates the biggest remaining untapped market in the commercial world.

The all-new Ferrari reasserted the old order last week at the Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher drove the F2003-GA to another flawless victory and all but wiped out McLaren’s early-season advantage at a stroke.

Before the cars tear on to the track for the first round of testing at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, they will in effect have absorbed every bump, bounce and undulation of the circuit without having been there recently.