2007 French Grand Prix|100+ Photos|Videos

Sunday, Race Day: Kimi leads Ferrari 1-2! Comments are welcome!

In the last French GP of Magny Cours, Kimi claimed victory as memories of the 2002 race went past my mind. I’m so happy and pleased for Kimi that he won. Not only is winning this race special in the sense that it could have been his first GP win in 2002, he has silenced his doubters (even some of his ‘fans’) with a great performance. As I thought yesterday after qualifying, Kimi was indeed 4 laps heavier on fuel than Massa and by the second pit stop, Kimi got infront of Felipe with laps faster by 0.7 of second. Very comforting for us as his supporters who never lost faith in him. A huge relief for Kimi that he is back to winning as the championship is reaching close to critical point, being half way through the season. I can’t wait for Silverstone, and as I am going to the race, I’ll be even more energetic to cheer on Kimi and wave my flag!

The race today was quite decent, it had some great battles, particularly between Alonso and Heidfeld. McLaren had bad day though, as on the start Lewis lost a place to Kimi (relieved to see Kimi’s starts improving by the way…) and with Alonso starting on the soft tyres, his strategy was hampered, and it frustrating for him that the drivers he overtook, Heidfeld and Fischella during the middle stint, ended up finishing ahead of him in. The race became a case of damage limitation for McLaren, with Lewis 30+ seconds behind the Ferraris’ in 3rd and Alonso nearly a minute behind in 7th.

Massa was annoyed, naturally, that he lost the win, and said traffic cost him 1st place. Don’t forget, Kimi’s ‘excuses’ in previous races, like Monaco, was because of traffic and how bad aerodynamics perform behind cars at a certain distance. What made Massa sound whingy and moany was that he was asked again about it by the interviewer, and so he ranted more…

I think that Kimi was the faster driver all weekend (just barely, but his pace was much quicker since Friday), and since his race in Indy, I knew he’d be faster from then on. Kimi was fast when it counted, Massa was not I guess so it wasn’t down to traffic only as it happens all the time.

Now the championship is tensing up; Ferrari are back, McLaren are now the ones on their back foot, mid-field competition between Renault and BMW is increasing, and the top four drivers in the championship will be on the limit till the last race. And until then, Keep Flying Kimi!

Quotes:

Post-race press conference – France

Raikkonen: we needed this victory

Raikkonen aims to keep momentum going
"It is nice. I think we had a bit of a hard time but I kind of expected to have difficult times," said Raikkonen after the race.

"People always think that you have lost it when you don’t have good results but we jut worked hard and tried to get it right and I think we can still improve.

"We are still not where we want to be but we are definitely much happier with the car since the last test, and in the last races, but we could not get it together. I think we seem to have good speed now so hopefully we can keep it up in the next races."

Raikkonen has started from third place, but made a good start to move ahead of Hamilton and then overtook teammate Felipe Massa during his second pitstop.

The Finn admitted his good start was crucial.

"Finally the start worked for me and it helped a lot," he said. "I think the car was good all the time, but not exactly perfect. I was happy with the car. I tried to push with Felipe before the first stop.

"I had some traffic and at the second stop I managed to go in front of him so it’s a good day for me and the team.

"I could not ask for more, I would rather start from the front row as it makes life easier. I knew it all depends on the start and we had a pretty good one."

Massa says backmarkers cost him win

Hamilton sure McLaren will fight back

Classified:
Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1h30:54.200
 2.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +     2.414
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +    32.153
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  +    41.727
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)  +    48.801
 6.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +    52.210
 7.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +    56.516
 8.  Button        Honda                (B)  +    58.885
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  +  1:08.505
10.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota      (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    2 laps
17.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:16.099

Videos

Press Conference – Full!
download: http://www.mediafire.com/?0zmnwchzerd

GP Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbZ785dYK-o

The final laps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYretNvJGzw

Podium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8PKuPC8X1Y

Saturday, Qualifying: Kimi 3rd

…And Massa takes pole?! Even he himself sounded not too impressed on the team radio, as if he hadn’t really pushed hard for it. Maybe because Ferrari put Kimi on a heavier fuel load and wasn’t able to challenge for pole? I have to say, I was really annoyed with the results. Kimi was clearly matching Massa’s pace today and why on earth would Ferrari not want a full Ferrari row infront of Hamilton? ‘Pieces of sh**’ was my honest reaction, as they threw away the perfect opportunity for a Ferrari 1-2 grid line up, and took away a potential front row start for Kimi. Evenstar is very annoyed. But I’m pleased with Kimi’s performance so far, though as soon as I saw how Kimi went through turns 1 and 2 on his final lap, smooth and not as ragged as his style on the limit is, it was clear he wasn’t going for pole due to holding more fuel than the others. Oh, and another thing that really annoyed me, ITV always cutting Kimi off in the press conference just because Lewis has said his stuff already. Argh! But read all of it here: Post-qualifying press conference



McLaren’s bullet proof campaign is showing some cracks as Alonso had a gear box problem (though it looked like an engine problem from the smoke at the rear…it’s been diagnosed as gear box related) and couldn’t complete any final Q3 lap. He had to settle for 10th place, but if things aren’t sorted and he needs an engine change, he may start from the back of the grid tomorrow. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes with these problems when the championship is becoming critical in gaining as many points as you can.

Suprisingly, Kubica outqualified teammate Heidfeld in a strong 4th place, despite the terrible crash he had in Canada 3 weeks ago. The Red Bulls had a bad day at work as both cars failed to get into Q2. However, a better day for Renault as they’re picking up pace in qualifying, in between the BMWs.

I love the Magny Cours circuit, and with the narrow, full throttle first two corners, the start and battle between Kimi, Hamilton and Massa should be exciting to watch tomorrow! Don’t miss it! (UK Viewers: ITV1 @ 1pm Live)

Quotes & News:
Kimi: error cost me front row slot
"There have been some hard times but we just try to improve the car all the time," he said.

"It seems better now. We seem to be more competitive but it’s pretty close and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I lost time on one corner, but that’s my fault and so there is no point complaining."

With the weather conditions for tomorrow’s race uncertain, Raikkonen said he was not worried whether it rained or not – as he expected Ferrari to be strong no matter what was thrown at them.

"I think we have a good car. It wasn’t a perfect lap, but I think the race will be different tomorrow.

"It will make it much more complicated for everybody if it is wet, probably a bit more interesting, but we will wait and see what happens."

Ferrari Team quotes
Kimi Raikkonen – 3rd: "Of course I would have preferred to be in front of everyone, but third place is not so bad. We will have to see how the race evolves and the various strategies will work out. I am confident, because I know I have a car that is competitive over a race distance.

"On my final run in Q3, I made a mistake that probably cost me a place on the front row. I have a good feeling with the F2007, which is very well balanced and has been since the start of the weekend. It will be a very tough race and I will give it my best shot to bring home as many points as possible."

Okay, there’s no point in complaining because it was his mistake…(I still think he’s 2-3 laps heavier than Massa though lol)

Post-qualifying press conference

Frustrated Alonso hoping for wet race

France qualifying breakdown			Session 1			Session 2			Session 3
Pos	Driver	Team	Pos	Time	Lap	Pos	Time	Lap	Pos	Time	Lap
1.	Massa	Ferrari	3.	1:15.303	3	2.	1:14.822	3	1.	1:15.034	12
2.	Hamilton	McLaren	1.	1:14.805	3	1.	1:14.795	3	2.	1:15.104	12
3.	Raikkonen	Ferrari	2.	1:14.872	3	3.	1:14.828	3	3.	1:15.257	13
4.	Kubica	BMW Sauber	8.	1:15.778	7	4.	1:15.066	3	4.	1:15.493	12
5.	Fisichella	Renault	12.	1:16.047	7	7.	1:15.227	6	5.	1:15.674	12
6.	Kovalainen	Renault	5.	1:15.524	7	8.	1:15.272	6	6.	1:15.826	12
7.	Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	9.	1:15.783	4	6.	1:15.149	7	7.	1:15.900	12
8.	Trulli	Toyota	15.	1:16.118	5	10.	1:15.379	6	8.	1:15.935	12
9.	Rosberg	Williams	13.	1:16.092	7	9.	1:15.331	6	9.	1:16.328	12
10.	Alonso	McLaren	4.	1:15.322	3	5.	1:15.084	3	10.	No time	1
11.	R.Schumacher	Toyota	7.	1:15.760	6	11.	1:15.534	6
12.	Button	Honda	14.	1:16.113	6	12.	1:15.584	6
13.	Barrichello	Honda	16.	1:16.140	6	13.	1:15.761	6
14.	Webber	Red Bull	6.	1:15.746	6	14.	1:15.806	5
15.	Speed	Toro Rosso	11.	1:15.980	6	15.	1:16.049	6
16.	Coulthard	Red Bull	10.	1:15.915	7	16.	No time	2
17.	Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	17.	1:16.142	6
18.	Wurz	Williams	18.	1:16.241	7
19.	Sato	Super Aguri	19.	1:16.244	6
20.	Davidson	Super Aguri	20.	1:16.366	5
21.	Albers	Spyker	21.	1:17.826	6
22.	Sutil	Spyker	22.	1:17.915	5