I'm still of the opinion that there's not much sense in trying to read too much into testing, although if you do want to analyse long-run lap times James Allen had an interesting piece up on his site the other day.
No, this week I've been more interested in the developing story - non-story? - that has been Hugo Chavez' very low-key return to Venezuela.
That the Venezuelan president has been undergoing treatment for cancer is no secret. But where previous trips to Cuba have included press conferences live from the hospital bed, Chavez' most recent trip has been a lot more sedate. Despite government claims that the president was governing the country from the Cuban hospital, it this week emerged that Chavez is breathing through a tube and is unable to speak.
Where previous returns from Cuba have seen Chavez arrive to great celebratory fanfare, waving at crowds from the presidential balcony and being paraded through the streets, this time the president arrived in silence under the cover of nightfall and went straight to a military hospital, where he is undergoing further treatment.
Pundits are asking whether Chavez has come home to die.
Should the Venezuelan president be nearing the end, it is likely that the political situation in Venezuela will continue largely unchanged. Chavez inspires passionate devotion among large swathes of Venezuela's populace, and should he either pass away or step down it is almost certain that he will be replaced by his chosen successor, vice president Nicolas Maduro.
And while a smooth transition from Chavez to Chavez's number two should mean that Pastor Maldonado's PDVSA sponsorship continues unimpeded, the current level of uncertainty surrounding Venezuela's leadership is having something of an impact on the country's economy. Quelle surprise.
Since Chavez missed his own inauguration on 10 January the value of the Venezuelan bolivar has dropped by forty percent. Those sorts of figures represent an economy in freefall, and one in which the wider world has less than zero confidence.
Whatever the outcome of Chavez' current health crisis, the current lack of clear governance in the country is creating a financial climate which will find it incredibly hard to sustain a stable population. Even Chavez supporters are beginning to clamour for more information as to the state of their president's health, and asking whether he is fit to govern.
Among his detractors, questions are being asked about the Castro brothers, and whether the capital of Venezuela has moved full-time to Cuba.
No, this week I've been more interested in the developing story - non-story? - that has been Hugo Chavez' very low-key return to Venezuela.
That the Venezuelan president has been undergoing treatment for cancer is no secret. But where previous trips to Cuba have included press conferences live from the hospital bed, Chavez' most recent trip has been a lot more sedate. Despite government claims that the president was governing the country from the Cuban hospital, it this week emerged that Chavez is breathing through a tube and is unable to speak.
Where previous returns from Cuba have seen Chavez arrive to great celebratory fanfare, waving at crowds from the presidential balcony and being paraded through the streets, this time the president arrived in silence under the cover of nightfall and went straight to a military hospital, where he is undergoing further treatment.
Pundits are asking whether Chavez has come home to die.
Should the Venezuelan president be nearing the end, it is likely that the political situation in Venezuela will continue largely unchanged. Chavez inspires passionate devotion among large swathes of Venezuela's populace, and should he either pass away or step down it is almost certain that he will be replaced by his chosen successor, vice president Nicolas Maduro.
And while a smooth transition from Chavez to Chavez's number two should mean that Pastor Maldonado's PDVSA sponsorship continues unimpeded, the current level of uncertainty surrounding Venezuela's leadership is having something of an impact on the country's economy. Quelle surprise.
Since Chavez missed his own inauguration on 10 January the value of the Venezuelan bolivar has dropped by forty percent. Those sorts of figures represent an economy in freefall, and one in which the wider world has less than zero confidence.
Whatever the outcome of Chavez' current health crisis, the current lack of clear governance in the country is creating a financial climate which will find it incredibly hard to sustain a stable population. Even Chavez supporters are beginning to clamour for more information as to the state of their president's health, and asking whether he is fit to govern.
Among his detractors, questions are being asked about the Castro brothers, and whether the capital of Venezuela has moved full-time to Cuba.
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