Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen would have won from pole, but ultimately he was lucky to nurse a broken exhaust to second place, as Ferrari dominated amid McLaren's penalty troubles. Winner Felipe Massa - the first Brazilian championship leader since the great Ayrton Senna in 1993 - admitted that, given the Finn's peerless pace, "it would have been hard for me to beat him on the track".
Toyota
Jarno Trulli's strong third place, despite a late spirited attack by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, was a fitting tribute to Toyota's late team boss Ove Andersson, ending a podium drought of more than two years. Timo Glock struggled with handling and was a long way behind at the chequer, finishing 11th.
McLaren-Mercedes
Like Montreal, Magny-Cours was another shocker for Lewis Hamilton, who incurred yet another penalty, this time for cutting a chicane after passing Sebastian Vettel. He finished just tenth and is now ten points behind in the championship. Kovalainen fared better, fighting back from his own grid penalty to be fourth at the flag, despite a spirited attempt to pass Trulli right at the end.
BMW-Sauber
Robert Kubica, fifth and within sight of Trulli and Kovalainen at the end, lost his lead in the drivers' championship as BMW-Sauber's form dipped in France. "We now have to analyse what happened here and see how we can improve," said the Montreal winner. Nick Heidfeld, thirteenth and half a minute behind his teammate, only narrowly avoided being lapped.
Red Bull-Renault
With the two works cars behind him, sixth placed Mark Webber was the first Renault-powered contender past the flag, even surviving a big moment out of the last corner at one point that let Fernando Alonso past. "His strategy didn't work out as well, which was good for us," Webber said. David Coulthard finished 8 seconds behind Alonso in ninth.
Renault
Nelson Piquet's best showing in his difficult F1 career so far netted him 7th place ahead of his teammate Alonso, and the first points of his career. "It's the first time that everything has gone without any problems for me," he said. Alonso started third but lost positions on the first lap, and Piquet got past due to a mistake. "I was not able to find the pace I had shown yesterday," he said.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
The junior Red Bull team titled its post-race media statement 'Rain dance failed', as the few rain drops failed to help Sebastian Vettel raise above his 12th place starting position. Local driver Sebastien Bourdais only led home the slow Force Indias.
Honda
Honda will be pleased to put another bad weekend behind them: Jenson Button was the only retirement, as he succumbed to damage sustained in first-corner contact with Bourdais. Rubens Barrichello started last, after a gearbox change penalty, and he fought back to be the first of the six lapped cars. "There is no escaping the fact that this has been a painful weekend for us," he said.
Williams-Toyota
A fruitless race for the Grove squad, branded a "very mediocre performance" by team stalwart Patrick Head. Kazuki Nakajima finished where he started - 15th - and Nico Rosberg was never able to recover from his Montreal grid penalty. "The car simply didn't have the speed," he said.
Force India-Ferrari
The two Force India cars brought up the rear, and Giancarlo Fisichella's deficit to the next highest competitor was a hefty half a minute. "We have had some better races," said Adrian Sutil, another 20 seconds adrift.
Original:
Ferrari was back to form during qualifying for this weekend’s Magny-Cours with Kimi Raikkonen earning Ferrari’s 200th pole position and team mate Felipe Massa coming in just a hair length behind. Raikkonen put in a lap of 1m 16.449s compared to Massa’s 1m 16.490s. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton took third position but will start ten places back because of the Montreal crash penalty. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen has also been pushed back, forced to start at 10th position after being 6th fastest following the decision by stewards that he drove slowly on an out-lap and held up Mark Webber. Read on the full team-by-team summary.
Ferrari
On low fuel, Felipe Massa is the fastest man at Magny-Cours, but in Q3 race trim, Kimi Raikkonen snatched Ferrari's 200th pole by the barest of margins. Massa, who hurt his neck earlier this weekend in what he describes as a "stupid" elevator incident, said he overdrove in Q3.
McLaren-Mercedes
McLaren is not quite on Ferrari's pace at Magny-Cours, but Lewis Hamilton's P3 becomes P13 after his ten-position Montreal crash penalty. "I have to apologize to the team for making a couple of errors on my final runs in Q3," he said. Heikki Kovalainen has been consistently a few tenths further back here, and his P6 becomes P10, after stewards ruled that he drove slowly on an out-lap and held up Mark Webber. He called the events leading up to the Webber incident, also involving Kazuki Nakajima, a "mix-up".
Renault
As at the recent Barcelona test, Nelson Piquet sampled life atop a F1 timesheet on Saturday morning at Magny-Cours. He has been closer to Fernando Alonso all weekend in France, but reality set in for qualifying and he just missed the Q3 cut. Alonso's impressive P4 becomes P3 on the grid after Hamilton's penalty. "The car has really improved and so for the first time this season we have the real chance to fight for the podium," the Spaniard said.
Toyota
Both Toyotas in the exclusive top ten, with Jarno Trulli - despite a Q3 spin - the standout performer. His P5 becomes P4 on the grid after Hamilton's penalty. "I didn't expect to be this quick," he said.
BMW-Sauber
The morning timesheet gave a hint: despite the Montreal one-two, BMW-Sauber is not looking as strong as usual this weekend. Nick Heidfeld struggled the most and couldn't make it to Q3, but even championship leader Robert Kubica is just P7, albeit P5 after the McLaren drivers' penalties.
Red Bull-Renault
The signs were not good on Friday, but Mark Webber was as high as P2 in the morning practice session, and P8 - becoming P6 after the McLaren drivers' penalties - in qualifying. David Coulthard is the next man on the grid.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel's sensational practice speed continued with his P3 in the morning, netting him 13th on the grid - which becomes 12th thanks to Hamilton's penalty - and his teammate Sebastien Bourdais also broke through the Q2 barrier. "I can't say I'm angry not to make Q3," Vettel said, "but I am disappointed."
Williams-Toyota
Nico Rosberg looked quick in the morning, but he went no further in qualifying after making it through Q1, and his P15 puts him dead last on the grid with his Montreal penalty factored in. "To be so far off the pace is surprising," he said. Nakajima failed to make it through P1.
Honda
Another dreadful showing by the Japanese giant: similar pace from both drivers, but faster only than the Force India cars. 'Character-building' was how the team's official post-qualifying document described it. "There is no more to come from the car," Rubens Barrichello said.
Force India-Ferrari
The Silverstone built racers are the slowest at Magny-Cours: a full sixth tenths behind the next slowest cars - the woeful Hondas - in the decisive session, but shuffled up a place each due to Rosberg's Montreal penalty. "It was a difficult qualifying session for us as the whole field is very close," said Fisichella, marginally quicker than Adrian Sutil.
Reader Comments
Sun Jun 22 2008 2:55 PM
bambam says
I'm glad Kimmi came second as he is easily the better driver. This then makes it more interesting for the overall competition. However you have to feel the pain with Kimmi and Hamilton having bad days again. At least Kimmi got 8 points
Mon Jun 23 2008 12:21 AM
finland says
Kimi, not Kimmi :D
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