 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.
Stefano Domenicali: "A really
great result that came at the end of a very tough race. We had started
with the aim of securing the double and we managed it, despite the
exhaust problem that put Kimi's race in danger around lap 35. It proves
we have all the potential to do very well, but it also confirms that we
cannot allow ourselves not to be perfect in every detail, especially on
the reliability front. I am very sorry for Kimi, who was going really
well today and did a really good job to get the car to the line in these
conditions. Now we will have to check on the condition of the engine on
his car and evaluate what should be done for the race at Silverstone. I
am very happy for Felipe, who drove majestically, without putting a foot
wrong. It is the first time in his career that he leads the world
championship and I am sure that is a great satisfaction for him. We have
pulled out more of a gap in the Constructors' classification, which also
give us a bit of breathing space, but we cannot afford to ease up. There
is still a long way to go and our rivals will do all they can to beat
us. We must keep our heads down and work in a determined fashion. It is
a special pleasure to celebrate with a one-two finish the one hundred
and fiftieth win in partnership between Ferrari and Shell. Behind our
victories are some extraordinary partners."
Felipe Massa: "A great race, a fantastic result. The win came my
way because Kimi had a problem with his car and at the pace he was
running, it would have been hard for me to beat him on the track. I
would have been happy with second place but of course, the win makes me
even happier. I want to thank the whole team and our partners,
especially Shell. I am leading the championship and that's a nice
feeling, but I am well aware it means nothing because I am aiming for
the title and to do that, there is still a long way to go. In the first
part of the race I was struggling a bit to stay in touch with Kimi, then
when his exhaust broke, I managed to get by. In the second part, I
thought of managing the situation, making sure I made no mistakes,
especially when there were a few drops of rain. We have to continue
working this way, race after race, right to the end of the
championship."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Obviously I am a bit disappointed because I had
hoped to win. Unfortunately, the right exhaust pipe broke just before
half-distance and the engine lost a lot of power, especially on the
straight after the slow corners. After a few laps, the situation seemed
better, but towards the end of the race, I ran the risk of stopping.
This sort of thing can happen in racing and I have to try and look on
the bright side: eight points are still a good amount and the one-two
finish is a great result for the team. Luckily, I had built up quite a
good lead in the first part thanks to a car that was really very
competitive. The F2008 is definitely very strong because usually, when
you have this sort of problem, retirement is almost inevitable. There is
still a long way to go in the championship and I am in a better position
than I was at this stage last year: let's see what I can do in the next
part of the series."
Luca Baldisserri: "A fantastic one-two! This weekend we
demonstrated all our potential, securing the maximum result possible,
both in qualifying and in the race. The race was very difficult because
we had to try and adapt to the very changeable weather conditions and
also because, on Kimi's car, we had to manage the serious problem of a
broken exhaust pipe for more than half the race. The team did an
impeccable job under very difficult conditions and both drivers were
excellent. We knew we had great potential, which for various reasons,
was not translated into points in the two previous races. Today we did
it, but these eighteen points must not go to our heads. There is still a
lot of work to do and we must never drop our guard."
Source - Ferrari Media |
