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.