Test Times - Silverstone Day 1

Name	Team	Laps	Time	Gap
Massa	Ferrari	71	1:20.188	143.414 mph
Kovalainen	McLaren	90	1:20.477	0.289
Kubica	BMW	82	1:20.995	0.807
Kobayashi	Toyota	82	1:21.335	1.147
Rosberg	WilliamsF1	88	1:21.410	1.222
Webber	Red Bull	94	1:21.565	1.377
Piquet	Renault	68	1:21.797	1.609
Button	Honda	90	1:22.081	1.893
Liuzzi	Force India	108	1:22.250	2.062
Vettel	Toro Rosso	10	1:23.853	3.665

2008 French Grand Prix - Review

Ferrari
Felipe Massa - Winner
Kimi Raikkonen - P2
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were in their own league during the entire weekend of the French Grand Prix.  As expected, Kimi and Felipe left the field behind when the race began with Kimi setting fastest lap after fastest lap and Massa staying close behind nipping at his heals.  Unfortunately, the reliability bug bit Kimi as his exhaust broke on the left bank of his Ferrari engine.  That decrease in horse power handed the lead over to Felipe Massa and he never gave it up for the rest of the race.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli - P3
Timo Glock - P11
A rare visit to the podium for Jarno Trulli brought an air of relief to the struggling Toyota team.  He qualified very well this weekend putting his car in P4 for the start of the race.  Timo Glock on the other hand struggled throughout the weekend on able to qualify in P8 and finish the race in P11.  Nevertheless, Toyota needed those very valuable points brought in by Trulli.

McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen - P4
Lewis Hamilton - P10
Following the Canadian Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton foolishly smashed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's car, he was given a 10 spot grid penalty.  Heikki was then given a five spot grid penalty for impeding another driver during qualifying.  McLaren were definitely on their heals for this race and were putting everything they could in to it to bring some points away this weekend.  Heikki did exactly what he was supposed to do and kept his calm racing a very intelligent and skillful race.  Lewis on the other hand, made mistake after mistake.  If he wasn't locking up, he was cutting a chicane.  If he wasn't overdriving, he was throwing a tantrum at the end of the race.  Pressure is something that he's going to have to learn to deal with if he's going to be a Formula One driver.  Note:  Lewis has kept his streak of hitting other drivers from behind alive after slightly damaging his front wing hitting Heikki in the first few laps under braking.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica - P5
Nick Heidfeld - P13
After a brilliant win at the Canadian Grand Prix, Robert Kubica failed to impress as he brought his car home in P5.  Nick Heidfeld continues to struggle with this years car and had a horrible race coming across the line in P13.  It is becoming pretty clear that this years BMW Sauber chassis is very dependant on mechanical grip.  The next grand prix, Silverstone, will probably be another difficult track for them.

Red Bull - Renault
Mark Webber - P6
David Coulthard - P9
Mark Webber brought home some well deserved points after struggling with his car and even almost spinning on the front straight at one point.  David Coulthard, on the other hand, lost two positions at the start of the race and was never able to recover from that. 

Renault
Nelson Piquet - P7
Fernando Alonso - P8
Nelson Piquet put in an excellent drive and provided lots of on track excitement as he was holding off the two McLarens.  He seems to be coming to terms with the Renault finally and hopefully will give his teammate a little more trouble throughout the rest of the season.  After qualifying in P3, Fernando Alonso was expecting a different result at the end of the French Grand Prix.  He never could find the same speed that he showed in practice/qualifying and lost several positions throughout the afternoon.

STR - Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel - P12
Sebastien Bourdais - P17
Believe it or not, the STR boys actually battled a McLaren and BMW during the French Grand Prix.  Probably the greatest accolade they could take away from this race, but one takes what one can sometimes.

Honda
Rubens Barrichello - P14
Jenson Button - DNF
Having started from P20 on the grid after an engine change, Rubens did a pretty good job to move ahead six spots.  Jenson had a coming together with Sebastien Bourdais at the start of the race and eventually lost his front wing because of it.  The car started to fall apart after he came in for a new front wing and he eventually just had to bring the car into the pits.  These are not bright days for the Honda F1 team, but hopefully Ross Brawn can turn them around.

Williams - Toyota
Kazuki Nakajima - P15
Nico Rosberg - P16
It's amazing how the tide can turn from track to track.  In Canada Nico was battling with the top runners and here he could barely make it to the end.  Hopefully they can recover from this and put in a better performance at Silverstone.

Force India - Ferrari
Giancarlo Fisichella - P18
Adrian Sutil - P19
It was another difficult race for the Force India - Ferrari team.  They have proven now that their reliability is up to par, now they just need to develop some speed.

2008 French Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

 

Kimi Raikkonen snatched pole with time to spare as he didn't even finish his last hot lap so he could save  a bit of petrol.  Felipe Massa was the fastest man during both Q1 and Q2, but strategy aside, couldn't put in a flyer to take P1 and had to settle for P2.  Lewis Hamilton took P3 which will translate to P13 with his shiny new penalty.  Midfield is not going to be good for him since he has a tendency to drive into the back of other drivers (Example 1, Example2).  Somewhat of a surprise, but not a complete shocker after seeing his form in practice, Fernando Alonso pulled his car up the grid to P4.  However, the "Most Shocking" award would have to go to Jarno Trulli which somehow stopped spinning long enough to finally finish a lap and put his steed in P5.

Pos	Driver	Team
1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
4	Fernando Alonso	Renault
5	Jarno Trulli	Toyota
6	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes
7	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber
8	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault
10	Timo Glock	Toyota
11	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault
12	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber
13	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari
14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari
15	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota
16	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota
17	Jenson Button	Honda
18	Rubens Barrichello	Honda
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari
20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari

Kimi on Pole

...Massa comes in second while Hamilton comes in third...errr...thirteenth.

More to come later...

2008 French Grand Prix Preview

What about Bob? - Grand Prix of Canada

After Lewis Hamilton's stunning mistake at pit out (perhaps he didn't think that the red light applied to him) took himself and Kimi Raikkonen out of the race, Robert Kubica seized the advantage and stormed to his and BMW Sauber's maiden victory.

To make BMW Sauber's day even sweeter, Nick Heidfeld gave them a 1-2, coming from mid pack to the podium, which is almost becoming a tradition at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. I wonder if Peter Sauber will smile all the way back to Europe.

David Coulthard scored a podium for Red Bull, and Sebastian Vettel came from a pit lane start to the points.

Kubica takes over the lead in the Driver's Championship, with Massa and Hamilton tied for second four points adrift. Raikkonen is a further three points back.

In the Constructor's Championship Ferrari still lead, but only by three points over BMW-Sauber, with McLaren sitting seventeen points behind.
Points Finishers

1)	Robert Kubica	BMW	1:36:24.447
2)	Nick Heidfeld	BMW	+ 16.495
3)	David Coulthard	Red Bull	+ 23.352
4)	Timo Glock	Toyota	+ 42.627
5)	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+ 43.934
6)	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+ 47.775
7)	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+ 53.597
8)	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso	+ 54.120

Qualifying - Canadian GP

Lewis Hamilton takes pole at Canada with a last second flyer that pushed Robert Kubica's BMW to second. Kimi Raikkonen salvages third for Ferrari, which seems strangely off the pace here, especially in the third sector with the long back straight.

It's going to be interesting to see what develops in the race tomorrow. There's a slight threat of wet weather, but even dry conditions promise some mixed up results as the sudden rise in air and track temperatures is creating some slick conditions.

Workers swept the hairpin between each session, and strong cross winds blew vegetation across the track. Mark Webber was one of the victims, tagging the wall on his cool-down lap to end Q2. He'll start 10th.

Here is your starting grid:

1)	Lewis Hamilton	1:17.886
2)	Robert Kubica	1:18.498
3)	Kimi Räikkönen	1:18.735
4)	Fernando Alonso	1:18.746
5)	Nico Rosberg	1:18.844
6)	Felipe Massa	1:19.048
7)	Heikki Kovalainen	1:19.089
8)	Nick Heidfeld	1:19.633
9)	Rubens Barrichello	1:20.848
10)	Mark Webber	no time
11)	Timo Glock	1:18.031
12)	Kaz Nakajima	1:18.062
13)	David Coulthard	1:18.238
14)	Jarno Trulli	1:18.327
15)	Nelson Piquet	1:18.393
16)	Sebastien Bourdais	1:18.916
17)	Adrian Sutil	1:19.108
18)	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:19.165
19)	Jensen Button	1:23.565
20)	Sebastian Vettel	no time