French GP – Massa gifted win, Ferrari dominate
June 22, 2008 by Dominic Alder
Felipe Massa has won the French Grand Prix after Kimi Raikkonen suffered mechanical failure and gifted the Brazilian his third victory of 2008.
Raikkonen finished second but was in total control of the race until his Ferrari suffered a cracked exhaust, burning away the bodywork and part of the airbox. Massa had no answer to Raikkonen’s pace until he passed the limping lead Ferrari on lap 39. He carried a few extra laps worth of fuel over Raikkonen that should have leapfrogged him during the pitstops, but the Finn’s performance was too strong.
Ferrari delivered a crushing performance on a day that saw their closest rivals under-perform.
Lewis Hamilton failed to score for the second consecutive race after a disastrous afternoon. Compromised by his 13th position grid slot, Hamilton missed the Nurburgring chicane after passing Sebastian Vettel on lap one, earning himself a drive-through penalty. Hamilton’s actual pace was quick enough for a top-four finish but the grid and race penalties kept him out of the points.
World championship leader Robert Kubica had a fairly uneventful run to fifth in the BMW Sauber, whilst team-mate Heldfeld failed to score.
Jarno Trulli drove a strong race to finish third for Toyota. The team were in mourning after the death of their former team boss Ove Andersson in a rally crash. Trulli held off a charging Heikki Kovalainen in the closing stages.
Nelson Piquet Jr will keep his seat at Renault, at least for the time being, after his first points finish of the season. He finished sixth, ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso.
The momentum is with Ferrari in both championships. The next race, at Silverstone in two weeks’ time, is traditionally strong for the Italians, but Hamilton must produce a decent result to get his championship campaign back on track.
Result of French Grand Prix
1 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hour 31 minutes 50.245 seconds
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 17.984 seconds
3. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +28.250
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +28.929
5. Robert Kubica (Pol)BMW Sauber +30.512
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +40.304
7. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault +41.033
8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +43.372
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault +51.072
10. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +54.521
11. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota +57.738
12. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari +58.065
13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +1:02.079
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda one lap behind
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap
16. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1 lap
17. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1 lap
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1 lap
Retired: Jenson Button (GB) Honda 16 laps completed
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