French GP - A double despite trouble
Magny-Cours, 22nd June 2008
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro scored its third one-two finish of the season, but maybe not the one that was expected as the win went to Felipe Massa, who started from second on the grid, with pole man Kimi Raikkonen in the runner-up spot. Joining the two Prancing Horse drivers on the podium was Toyota's Jarno Trulli. This maximum score result means that the Scuderia strengthens its position at the top of the Constructors' classification, leading BMW by 91 to 74. Felipe's third win of the season promotes him to the lead in the Drivers' Championship, with 48 points; two more than Robert Kubica and five more than Kimi.
After two days of hot sunny weather, the rain put in an appearance at Magny-Cours on Sunday, first thing in the morning and then some light drizzle just before the cars were due to go out on track to assemble on the grid. However, everyone took the start on dry tyres and the only further change to the grid from yesterday was that Rubens Barrichello was starting from the back, following a gearbox change.
At the start, the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers maintained their grid positions, with Raikkonen leading Massa. Trulli moved up from fourth to third, getting ahead of Alonso. Hamilton had moved his McLaren up from thirteenth to tenth, while Glock in the Toyota had moved up two places to sixth.
Button was the first driver to pit, bringing his Honda in on lap 5 with a broken front wing. Raikkonen set a fastest time on this lap, leading team-mate Massa by 2.1s. Behind them came Trulli, Alonso, Kubica, Glock, Webber, Piquet, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Coulthard, Vettel, heidfeld, Nakajima, Bourdais, Fisichella, Barrichello, Sutil, Rosberg and Button last.
Kimi gradually extended his lead and by lap 14 the gap to Massa was 4.1 seconds. Further back, Eighth placed Piquet's Renault was just staying head of the two penalised McLarens. Lap 15 and the first refuelling stops began, with Alonso and Hamilton coming in first. Lap 19 and Hamilton came in again and changed tyres, having appeared to bang wheels with Alonso as he drove past him to go twelfth. On lap 20, Trulli and Kubica came in from third and fourth places. The leader brought his F2008 in for a 9.8 seconds refuelling, which promoted Massa to the lead, until the Brazilian came in on lap 23 for a 9.4 second stop. Webber pitted from third.
Lap 25 saw Piquet and Kovalainen pit from third and fourth. Webber had a big moment at the final corner which allowed Alonso to get ahead to move up to tenth. One lap later, Coulthard pitted from third leaving just Vettel in fourth and Heidfeld in sixth still to refuel. The Stewards imposed a drive through penalty on Hamilton for gaining an advantage by cutting a corner. Vettel and Heidfeld refuelled on lap 29. This meant the order on lap 30, with the front runners all having pitted at least once was: Raikkonen, 6.6s ahead of Massa, who had a comfortable 25.7s lead over Trulli. In fourth spot was Kubica and then came Alonso, Webber, Kovalainen, Piquet, Glock, Coulthard, Nakajima (yet to stop) Vettel, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Barrichello, Hamilton, Rosberg, Bourdais and Sutil.
Backmarker traffic saw the gap between the two Ferrari men get smaller, with Kimi leading Felipe by only 1.7s on lap 37. However, it soon became apparent that traffic was not the only problem for the Finn, as the TV cameras picked up a component flapping around at the rear of the car, and lap 39 saw the Brazilian take the lead while Trulli was third, still over 25 seconds behind Raikkonen. However, Kimi's lap times were slowing, to almost two seconds down on Felipe's and it soon became apparent that he had a problem with the exhaust system on his car, which is what caused him to slow the pace.
Lap 42 saw a good battle for sixth go in favour of Kovalainen as he passed Webber and at the same time, Alonso came in to start the run of refuelling for the majority of drivers who were on a two stop strategy. With twenty laps to go to the end of the 70 lap race, Kimi was still lapping around a second slower than Felipe, but the gap to Trulli grew when the Toyota man refuelled on that lap. The Finn pitted on lap 52 as did third placed Kovalainen, fifth man Coulthard and seventh placed Hamilton. Massa's final 6.3 second pit stop came on lap 54, so that one lap later the points positions were: Massa, Raikkonen, Trulli, Kovalainen, Kubica, Webber, Alonso and Piquet. With ten laps to go a great battle was developing for third spot, with Trulli fighting off Kovalainen, which allowed Kubica to close right up and join the fight. But despite increasing pressure from the Finn, which included a wheel banging moment, the Italian hung on to the final step of the podium. The remaining points finishers were Kovalainen in fourth, then Kubica, Webber, Piquet and Alonso.
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro scored its third one-two finish of the season, but maybe not the one that was expected as the win went to Felipe Massa, who started from second on the grid, with pole man Kimi Raikkonen in the runner-up spot. Joining the two Prancing Horse drivers on the podium was Toyota's Jarno Trulli. This maximum score result means that the Scuderia strengthens its position at the top of the Constructors' classification, leading BMW by 91 to 74. Felipe's third win of the season promotes him to the lead in the Drivers' Championship, with 48 points; two more than Robert Kubica and five more than Kimi.
After two days of hot sunny weather, the rain put in an appearance at Magny-Cours on Sunday, first thing in the morning and then some light drizzle just before the cars were due to go out on track to assemble on the grid. However, everyone took the start on dry tyres and the only further change to the grid from yesterday was that Rubens Barrichello was starting from the back, following a gearbox change.
At the start, the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers maintained their grid positions, with Raikkonen leading Massa. Trulli moved up from fourth to third, getting ahead of Alonso. Hamilton had moved his McLaren up from thirteenth to tenth, while Glock in the Toyota had moved up two places to sixth.
Button was the first driver to pit, bringing his Honda in on lap 5 with a broken front wing. Raikkonen set a fastest time on this lap, leading team-mate Massa by 2.1s. Behind them came Trulli, Alonso, Kubica, Glock, Webber, Piquet, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Coulthard, Vettel, heidfeld, Nakajima, Bourdais, Fisichella, Barrichello, Sutil, Rosberg and Button last.
Kimi gradually extended his lead and by lap 14 the gap to Massa was 4.1 seconds. Further back, Eighth placed Piquet's Renault was just staying head of the two penalised McLarens. Lap 15 and the first refuelling stops began, with Alonso and Hamilton coming in first. Lap 19 and Hamilton came in again and changed tyres, having appeared to bang wheels with Alonso as he drove past him to go twelfth. On lap 20, Trulli and Kubica came in from third and fourth places. The leader brought his F2008 in for a 9.8 seconds refuelling, which promoted Massa to the lead, until the Brazilian came in on lap 23 for a 9.4 second stop. Webber pitted from third.
Lap 25 saw Piquet and Kovalainen pit from third and fourth. Webber had a big moment at the final corner which allowed Alonso to get ahead to move up to tenth. One lap later, Coulthard pitted from third leaving just Vettel in fourth and Heidfeld in sixth still to refuel. The Stewards imposed a drive through penalty on Hamilton for gaining an advantage by cutting a corner. Vettel and Heidfeld refuelled on lap 29. This meant the order on lap 30, with the front runners all having pitted at least once was: Raikkonen, 6.6s ahead of Massa, who had a comfortable 25.7s lead over Trulli. In fourth spot was Kubica and then came Alonso, Webber, Kovalainen, Piquet, Glock, Coulthard, Nakajima (yet to stop) Vettel, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Barrichello, Hamilton, Rosberg, Bourdais and Sutil.
Backmarker traffic saw the gap between the two Ferrari men get smaller, with Kimi leading Felipe by only 1.7s on lap 37. However, it soon became apparent that traffic was not the only problem for the Finn, as the TV cameras picked up a component flapping around at the rear of the car, and lap 39 saw the Brazilian take the lead while Trulli was third, still over 25 seconds behind Raikkonen. However, Kimi's lap times were slowing, to almost two seconds down on Felipe's and it soon became apparent that he had a problem with the exhaust system on his car, which is what caused him to slow the pace.
Lap 42 saw a good battle for sixth go in favour of Kovalainen as he passed Webber and at the same time, Alonso came in to start the run of refuelling for the majority of drivers who were on a two stop strategy. With twenty laps to go to the end of the 70 lap race, Kimi was still lapping around a second slower than Felipe, but the gap to Trulli grew when the Toyota man refuelled on that lap. The Finn pitted on lap 52 as did third placed Kovalainen, fifth man Coulthard and seventh placed Hamilton. Massa's final 6.3 second pit stop came on lap 54, so that one lap later the points positions were: Massa, Raikkonen, Trulli, Kovalainen, Kubica, Webber, Alonso and Piquet. With ten laps to go a great battle was developing for third spot, with Trulli fighting off Kovalainen, which allowed Kubica to close right up and join the fight. But despite increasing pressure from the Finn, which included a wheel banging moment, the Italian hung on to the final step of the podium. The remaining points finishers were Kovalainen in fourth, then Kubica, Webber, Piquet and Alonso.
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