Reverend
June 23rd, 2008, 00:07 AM
Brazilian Felipe Massa was handed victory in the French Grand Prix when Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen ran into problems with a broken exhaust.
Raikkonen was in control of a race dominated by Ferrari when his right-hand exhaust cracked at half-distance. But such was Ferrari's advantage that Raikkonen held on to second place.
Jarno Trulli marked Toyota's best race of the season with third while Lewis Hamilton was 10th after falling foul of officials for the second race in a row.
It was always going to be a difficult race for the Englishman following his 10-place grid penalty for crashing into the back of Raikkonen in the pits in the previous race in Canada.
But the 23-year-old made it even harder for himself by cutting the Nurburgring chicane in the process of passing Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel as he sought to make up places on the opening lap.
That led to a drive-through penalty, the most lenient punishment available to the stewards for the offence, which cost him any realistic chance of scoring points.
There will, though, be some debate about whether Hamilton deserved to penalised, with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis claiming after the race that Hamilton was already ahead of Vettel before the corner.
What was not up for debate was the superiority of the Ferraris.
It was obvious from his lap times that even had Hamilton suffered no penalties, the McLaren did not have the pace to challenge the Ferraris.
Raikkonen converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner, and set about building the gap he needed to keep his lead, knowing that he was to make his first stop two laps earlier than Massa.
Raikkonen, edging further ahead by the lap, was nearly five seconds clear of his team-mate when he stopped on lap 21.
And any faint hope Massa had of leapfrogging Raikkonen evaporated when he ran into traffic on the two laps before his stop.
Raikkonen then set about making the race his own, extending his lead to more than six seconds by lap 30, only to run into his exhaust problem, and being forced to cede to Massa.
"That was fantastic," Massa said. "I didn't expect that.
"Sometimes you need a bit of luck, and we got that with Kimi's exhaust. It was a good present.
"It was a great race. We showed our performance here, we are heading in the right direction, with the team doing a fantastic job."
French Grand Prix result:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
3. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes
5. Robert Kubica (Pol)BMW Sauber
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
7. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault
8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
Championship standings:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 48 pts
2. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 46
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 43
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 38
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 28
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 20
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 18
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 18
Constructors' championship:
1. Ferrari 91 pts
2. BMW Sauber 74
3. McLaren-Mercedes 58
4. Red Bull-Renault 24
5. Toyota 23
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7468007.stm)
Raikkonen was in control of a race dominated by Ferrari when his right-hand exhaust cracked at half-distance. But such was Ferrari's advantage that Raikkonen held on to second place.
Jarno Trulli marked Toyota's best race of the season with third while Lewis Hamilton was 10th after falling foul of officials for the second race in a row.
It was always going to be a difficult race for the Englishman following his 10-place grid penalty for crashing into the back of Raikkonen in the pits in the previous race in Canada.
But the 23-year-old made it even harder for himself by cutting the Nurburgring chicane in the process of passing Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel as he sought to make up places on the opening lap.
That led to a drive-through penalty, the most lenient punishment available to the stewards for the offence, which cost him any realistic chance of scoring points.
There will, though, be some debate about whether Hamilton deserved to penalised, with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis claiming after the race that Hamilton was already ahead of Vettel before the corner.
What was not up for debate was the superiority of the Ferraris.
It was obvious from his lap times that even had Hamilton suffered no penalties, the McLaren did not have the pace to challenge the Ferraris.
Raikkonen converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner, and set about building the gap he needed to keep his lead, knowing that he was to make his first stop two laps earlier than Massa.
Raikkonen, edging further ahead by the lap, was nearly five seconds clear of his team-mate when he stopped on lap 21.
And any faint hope Massa had of leapfrogging Raikkonen evaporated when he ran into traffic on the two laps before his stop.
Raikkonen then set about making the race his own, extending his lead to more than six seconds by lap 30, only to run into his exhaust problem, and being forced to cede to Massa.
"That was fantastic," Massa said. "I didn't expect that.
"Sometimes you need a bit of luck, and we got that with Kimi's exhaust. It was a good present.
"It was a great race. We showed our performance here, we are heading in the right direction, with the team doing a fantastic job."
French Grand Prix result:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
3. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes
5. Robert Kubica (Pol)BMW Sauber
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
7. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault
8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault
Championship standings:
1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 48 pts
2. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 46
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 43
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 38
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 28
6. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 20
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 18
8. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 18
Constructors' championship:
1. Ferrari 91 pts
2. BMW Sauber 74
3. McLaren-Mercedes 58
4. Red Bull-Renault 24
5. Toyota 23
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7468007.stm)