Ferrari aim to raise the pace in new car
Juan Pablo Montoya added tennis to the list of extreme sports, Bernie Ecclestone lost commercial control of formula one to the banks, Jacques Villeneuve's friends and enemies suggested he could walk away if he can't extract more speed from his Sauber, and Mark Webber revealed he'd driven with a broken rib in Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur.
But as interesting as these stories have been, motor sport's most intriguing question could finally be answered today in the Bahrain Grand Prix - will the new Ferrari F2005 be able to drag the glamour team out of its early-season slump?
Ferrari rushed two F2005s to Bahrain for Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello after disappointing results with interim cars in the first two races of the season. The original plan had been to debut the F2005 in Spain on May 8.
Schumacher failed to finish in Australia and was seventh in Malaysia, where he tip-toed around on problematic tyres. Harder, more durable Bridgestone compounds will be on the red cars today at the Sakhir complex.
Strong results would silence those critics daring to suggest the Ferrari reign may be at an end, and team technical director Ross Brawn expects the F2005 to be about a second faster than the old car.
If the F2005 doesn't match the flying Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso - winners at Albert Park and Sepang - some serious self-doubting might invade the Ferrari troops. But this is a long season - the longest yet, with 19 races - and there is plenty of time for Ferrari to overcome its slow start.
Schumacher knows there is still plenty of time for a fightback, saying: "For many years in formula one, I have known that there are different phases in each season.
"And this season will be longer than all the ones before it. There is still very much that can happen."
He remains a picture of confidence, despite trailing championship leader Alonso 16 points to two.
Still, Fisichella believes his Renault will still be stronger than Ferrari's new car. The Italian insists his most dangerous opponent is Alonso, his Spanish teammate and a last-start winner in Malaysia.
Some aerodynamic improvements should help Webber and Williams teammate Nick Heidfeld today but the cars didn't look super-fast on Friday.
Montoya has been sidelined for at least one race after injuring a shoulder playing tennis. In his place is McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.
And conjecture over the future of Jacques Villeneuve accelerated on Friday, when he battled with the Minardis and Jordans for the unwanted tag of tail-end Charlie.
In the two GPs so far this year, Villeneuve failed to match the pace of Sauber teammate Felipe Massa, prompting him to suggest he'll quit if things don't improve.