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Ferrari back on top in France
With victory for Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen and second position, and the fastest lap of the race for team mate Felipe Massa - this French Grand Prix weekend
clearly belonged to Scuderia Ferrari!
All weekend the Ferraris had displayed impressive pace whenever the cars ventured on track and having topped the time sheets on both Friday and
Saturday, the team made it matter when it counted most. Massa took Ferrari's fifth pole position out of eight races and his seventh career pole. Räikkönen finished the qualifying session third, just fractions of
a second behind the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
On race day Räikkönen's third position soon became immaterial; he had barely pulled away from his grid
spot when he passed Hamilton and slipped in behind his team mate before entering the first corner.
Powered by Shell V-Power Racing, both drivers harnessed their quick pace; Massa sped off into the
distance and by lap twelve was already overtaking the back-markers.
Lap 19 brought Massa into the pits, temporarily handing the baton to his team mate Räikkönen who
came in to meet his pit crew three laps later. On rejoining the track, the gap between the two Ferraris had reduced and they continued in procession.
Running a two-stop strategy Massa came into the
pits for a second time on lap 43 followed by Räikkönen on lap 46. The strategy worked in the Finn's favour and carrying three laps worth of fuel more than his team mate, he rejoined the track just
in front. Räikkönen took the lead with 24 laps remaining. He crossed the line to seal the one-two victory with just 2.4 seconds separating the two.
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BMW Sauber F1 Team
The BMW Sauber F1 Team leaves the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours with the greatest number of points scored in a single race in its history thanks to Robert Kubica finishing
fourth and Nick Heidfeld fifth. These nine points have strengthened the team's third place in the constructors' championship, and Nick Heidfeld's total of 30 points is two more than he scored in his best ever season
(2005).
Robert Kubica: 4th
Fastest Lap: 1.17.153 min on lap 44 (10th fastest overall) "This was a good race for the team with us finishing fourth and fifth, and it
has been a very good weekend for me. It was a very quiet race. I made quite a good start but we were on the dirty side with Lewis Hamilton, so had no chance to overtake. After
that I was close to him just once when he was coming out of the pits and we had a short fight, but he had new tyres, braked later into the hairpin and overtook me again. The last 20 laps were about bringing the car
home for a good result for the team, as Lewis was a long way in front and Nick behind. The car was very good, physically I am a hundred per cent and mentally too, and I could do another race now."
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