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Massa and Kimi - what now?

Felipe Massa should have won the European Grand Prix after being robbed of victory by Fernando Alonso four laps from the end. - Yeah, yeah - I know what you're saying - "then he should have driven faster" - but it's still pretty disappointing.

I'm also very upset with Ferrari's continued problem of failing to maximise on points when the team has the obvious performance advantage over McLaren - the main reason why the Maranello-based outfit trails its British counterparts by 27 points in the constructors' championship.

I'll describe this European Grand Prix nothing other than disappointing. Ferrari had a very competitive car and they were starting from first and third places. But they are going home with just eight points thanks to Felipe's second place.

At the end of a race run in changeable weather, - dry, wet, dry again and more rain at the end - Felipe saw himself miss out on a win which he richly deserved, losing out in the very last moments when the track was wet once again. Unfortunately, he said he had vibrations with his rain tires which made the car difficult to drive.

I'm also very disappointed for Kimi, stopped on lap thirty five by a problem with the hydraulic system. WTF?! Once again it shows that you do not go far without reliability. There is still a long way to go in this season and anything could yet happen in the seven remaining races.

This was a race in which Ferrari were capable of picking up maximum points. There is much to regret because if they do not make up ground in the classification while they are as competitive as they were in Nurgurg, then the situation gets more complicated.

Toro Rosso to dump its drivers

It's not a secret anymore: Scuderia Toro Rosso would rather get rid of its drivers sooner than later. Earlier this week Scott Speed already admitted that his bosses weren't too happy with him and team-mate Liuzzi, but today team boss Franz Tost has said he would like to get rid of his drivers.

Earlier this week Scott Speed complained that he didn't feel any support from his team boss. He was quoted as saying: "It's been that way for the last two years, and it's a lot more now. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read the press and know that Franz and Gerhard are pushing like hell to get rid of me and Tonio."

Some reports said Speed was assaulted by Franz Tost after the race as Tost would have grabbed Speed by his shoulder to stop him from walking away. But the Scuderia Toro Rosso team boss said it was nothing like that. He told Swiss newspaper Blick: "When Speed returned from his incident on Sunday I asked him why he flew off the track. He just smiled at me and asked 'Why did my pitstop have to take that long?' and walked away immediately. At that point I grabbed his shoulder and told him that this is not the way to discuss these matters."

Tost doesn't believe there is a war going on in his team but he is pretty unhappy with the way his drivers are performing at the moment. He said: "I'd rather have none of my current drivers in our car at the moment."

Alonso wins at the Nürburgring 2007

Lewis Hamilton's championship lead was slashed as he failed to score points in a dramatic European Grand Prix won by his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard took the lead from Felipe Massa's Ferrari with five laps left in a race defined by rain showers.

Hamilton finished ninth and is now just two points ahead of the world champion, with Massa a further nine behind.

Mark Webber's Red Bull was third as Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen retired, dealing his title hopes a heavy blow.

The Finn was in third place at Germany's Nürburgring behind Massa and Alonso when his engine started to cut out shortly after half distance and he was forced to retire.

Raikkonen remains 18 points behind Hamilton with a maximum of only 70 still available in the remaining seven races.

Hamilton's hopes of scoring points were dashed in a torrential early shower of rain.

After starting 10th following his crash in qualifying, he was up to fourth after the first few corners.

But it was pouring down by the time the cars were halfway around the first lap.

Debutant Markus Winkelhock in the Spyker, who had started from the pit lane on wet-weather tires, assumed the lead as everyone else pulled into the pits to change tires.

But the rain was soon so hard that cars were spinning off all over the place and the race was stopped after four laps.

Hamilton was among six drivers - including Honda's Jenson Button - to go off at the first corner, where the track was under water, but he kept his engine running and was able to rejoin the race at the back of the field.

The re-start took place under blue skies on a still-damp track, and Massa and Alonso wasted no time in passing Winkelhock.

But Hamilton gambled on using dry-weather tires at the re-start, and initially it did not pay off - he ran off the track and into the gravel on the first racing lap.

He managed to rejoin, though, and was soon setting fastest laps as he attempted to make up lost ground, prompting the other leading runners to come in to the pits to follow his lead in fitting dry tires.

Hamilton drove flat out for the rest of the afternoon and had hauled himself up into eighth place when a late shower of rain hit with  nine laps to go.

While the other drivers immediately pitted to change tires, Hamilton stayed out on his dry-weather tires, hoping to benefit from the others' stops.

But his second gamble of the afternoon also failed to pay off - the rain continued and Hamilton was forced to stop with five laps to go, dropping him to 10th.

He gained one place before the end at the expense of Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella.

The battle at the front was equally eventful.

Once the race had settled down after the re-start, Massa led from Alonso and Raikkonen, and the Brazilian slowly began to build an advantage over the McLaren driver.

Massa and Alonso made what they thought would be their final pit stops shortly after Raikkonen's retirement, on laps 37 and 38, and soon the world champion began to make in-roads into the Ferrari's seven-second lead.

Alonso had cut Massa's lead to four seconds when the weather played into his hands.

Much faster than Massa in the slippery conditions, he quickly caught the Ferrari.

The Brazilian earned the world champion's wrath with some robust defensive driving - although Alonso later apologised for saying Massa had driven into him deliberately - but the Spaniard finally took the lead with a brave move around the outside of turn five.

"I enjoy this kind of race, it was incredible," Alonso said during the interview on SPEED.

"In dry conditions the Ferraris were quicker than us. The rain at the end helped, our car seems to be quicker in the wet. Always when it rains I am quite happy and I have some fun."

Webber drove a strong race to reward Red Bull with their first podium finish in a difficult season plagued by poor reliability.

The Australian had to fight off a late challenge from Williams driver Alexander Wurz, who used all his experience and guile to take advantage of the chaotic conditions - just as he did in Canada last month - and finish fourth.

Heikki Kovalainen looked set to finish fifth after the latest in a series of impressive races, but he and Renault gambled on stopping early for wet tires with 10 laps to go.

That dropped the Renault driver to eighth and promoted Webber's team-mate David Coulthard to fifth.

The BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were sixth and seventh.

 

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European Grand Prix result after 60-lap race:

1.  Fernando Alonso (Spa)      McLaren-Mercedes  two hours six minutes 26.358 seconds
2.  Felipe Massa (Brz)        Ferrari   8.155 seconds behind
3.  Mark Webber (Aus)      Red Bull-Renault  at 1:05.674
4.  Alexander Wurz (Aut)     Williams-Toyota  1:05.937
5.  David Coulthard (GB)    Red Bull-Renault    1:13.656
6.  Nick Heidfeld (Ger)      BMW Sauber           1:20.298
7.  Robert Kubica (Pol)       BMW Sauber           01:22.415
8.  Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)  Renault              1 lap behind
9.  Lewis Hamilton (GB)     McLaren              1 lap
10. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault              1 lap
11. Rubens Barrichello (Brz)  Honda                1 lap
12. Anthony Davidson (GB)   Super Aguri-Honda  1 lap
13. Jarno Trulli (Ita)         Toyota               1 lap
R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)     Ferrari              34 laps completed
R  Takuma Sato (Jpn)          Super Aguri-Honda  19 laps completed
R  Ralf Schumacher (Ger)    Toyota               18 laps
R  Markus Winkelhock (Ger)  Spyker-Ferrari     13 laps
R  Jenson Button (GB)      Honda                two laps
R  Adrian Sutil (Ger)       Spyker-Ferrari    two laps
R Nico Rosberg (Ger)       Williams-Toyota    two laps
R  Scott Speed (US)           Toro Rosso-Ferrari two laps
R  Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita)    Toro Rosso-Ferrari two laps

R = retired

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:32.853, lap 34

Even Matched Practice One in Germany

McLaren and Ferrari duked it out at the Nurburgring as practice for the European Grand Prix got underway this morning, with BMW Sauber right in there with them.

So far it appears all three teams are evenly matched, with Hamilton setting the pace on 1m 32.515s chased by Kimi (1m 32.751s), Alonso (1m 32.932s) and Heidfeld (1m 32.975s).

Not far behind of course, Robert Kubica (1m 33.205s) and Felipe Massa (1m 33.605s), were fifth and sixth , with Ralf Schumacher (1m 33.825s), Jenson Button (1m 33.936s), David Coulthard (1m 34.062s) and Rubens Barrichello (1m 34.142s) flying the respective flags for Toyota, Honda and Red Bull.

The Nurburgring is quite a high-grip circuit, but there were nevertheless a fair number of off-track excursions as drivers pushed too hard. Massa erred in Turns Three and Four, Winkelhock in Turn Four, Speed in Turn Three, Fisichella in Turn Six, and Schumacher in Turn 10. None sustained anything more than temporary embarrassment.

German Markus Winklehock was confirmed as Spyker's reserve driver, and made his Formula One race debut with the team this weekend’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Winkelhock temporarily steps into the seat left vacant by Christijan Albers, who parted company with Spyker last week after contractual difficulties. The team have yet to confirm who will partner their other race driver, Adrian Sutil, for the rest of the season.

Winkelhock, 27 and from Stuttgart, is the son of the late Formula One and sports car racer Manfred Winkelhock. He made four Friday practice appearances for Spyker (then Midland) last year and was named an official test driver ahead of the 2007 season. This year he has also continued to compete in the DTM touring car series in Germany.

Kimi's Germany

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen hopes he can make it three in a row on Sunday. The Finn doesn't have a strong record at the Nürburgring though. In 2005 he was close to winning the race but in the final lap his tire exploded.

I don't know what it is about Germany - Kimi has never had any luck there during his entire Formula One career. He's always been competitive at the Nürburgring and at Hockenheim, but something always happened to stop him from winning. Let's hope that he can turn around things here in his first time with Ferrari.

Raikkonen is currently third in the Formula 1 championship standings with 52 points.

Honda keep Button & Barrichello

Britain's Jenson Button and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello have been confirmed as Honda's drivers for next year's Formula One campaign.

It means that 2008 will be Button's sixth year with the team while Barrichello will be entering his third season, having joined in 2006.

These guys just haven't had the performance to be competitive this year. But what they do have is a very solid team of people which has been boosted recently by some key new appointments.

Every team has good times and bad, and I think that their recent difficulties are behind them and that next year looks promising.

Button has only picked up one point this season, while his team-mate has yet to get his name on the drivers' standings.

Let's see how they do in the remaining eight races.

Got to Love Racing

Is Hamilton Human Afterall?

It looks as if the British Grand Prix opened up the first tiny cracks in the phenomenon that is Superboy Lewis Hamilton.

At his first pit stop at Silverstone on Sunday, the 22-year-old who monopolized the coverage of the weekend made what appeared to be his first mistake under pressure.

Hamilton must have known as he came into the pits that the race was not going to plan.

Despite running less fuel, the Englishman had failed to shake off Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso before his first pit stop.

With a lighter car, he should have been able to open up a gap, but they had both stuck resolutely to his tail. Hamilton had been holding them up, and he knew they were out on the track proving it.

Desperate to rejoin the race as soon as possible, he misinterpreted the movements of his pit crew and started to accelerate away while the fuel hose was still attached.

Hamilton being Hamilton, he reacted quickly enough to stop the car before doing any damage, but not before a point had been made.

Clearly the guy is human, after all.

It says a lot about the impression Hamilton has made this year that there should be any surprise about a rookie making that sort of mistake. But Hamilton, it has become abundantly clear, is no ordinary rookie.

The telling thing about this incident was not just that it was the first obvious error Hamilton has made in a race all year, but that it came in his least competitive showing since the Malaysian Grand Prix in March.

Although his stunning pole position lap hid the problem, Hamilton struggled throughout the Silverstone weekend - and more obviously than he has done at any race this year.

He was not happy with his car, and he was not a match for Alonso through the demanding, high-speed corners of Copse and Becketts, which - as Whitmarsh pointed out - are a pride thing for racing drivers.

McLaren summoned by FIA

McLaren have been summoned by Formula One's governing body, the FIA, to face charges of breaking the sport's rules.

The team are embroiled in a spying row following claims their chief designer Mike Coughlan illegally received information from rivals Ferrari.

McLaren face charges at a 26 July hearing of "unauthorised possession of documents and confidential information belonging to Ferrari".

Coughlan has already agreed to tell Ferrari how he got hold of the data.

Following an internal investigation, the FIA has called McLaren to answer charges of breaching Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

That rule states something like ..."any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition, or to the interests of motor sport generally"...

In a statement the FIA said the information "could be used to design, engineer, build, check, test, develop and/or run a 2007 Ferrari Formula One car."

Coughlan was suspended last week by McLaren after a 780-page dossier of Ferrari design information was found in his house.

Ferrari have accused Coughlan and his wife Trudy of stealing that information.

A hearing at the High Court on Wednesday was cancelled when Coughlan agreed to provide an affidavit to explain how he acquired the documents.

McLaren team boss, Ron Dennis, has maintained the team's innocence throughout and is confident the FIA will clear them of any wrongdoing.

Dennis said: "I can categorically state there are no developments whatsoever that have occurred on our cars relating to this."

Will this cause McLaren any embarrassment? What do you think?

If McLaren are found guilty the FIA has the power to expel the team from the championship or deduct points.

McLaren's British rookie Lewis Hamilton leads team-mate Fernando Alonso by 12 points in the drivers' standings, while McLaren have a 25-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors' race.

Heidfeld sits out Spa test

Nick Heidfeld has decided to miss BMW Sauber's test at Spa due to a recurring back pain. The German driver first complained of the problem on the Friday of the French Grand Prix and sat out practice as a consequence.

However, he recovered well enough to participate with the rest of the weekend and was also able to contest the British Grand Prix last weekend, finishing fifth on race day. It is believed the decision to not test is just a precaution and after two grands prix on consecutive weekends it is probably the best time to rest. The team's other race driver Robert Kubica will be testing today instead. 

Spyker drops Albers

Spyker have dropped Dutch driver Christijan Albers with immediate effect because of a problem with sponsorship.

Spyker, who have yet to score a point in nine races, have not yet named a replacement for Albers ahead of the German Grand Prix on July 22nd.

But the team's ambitious program has been seriously compromised by non-payment by one of his sponsors and we are faced with no other option.

Albers, 28, was in his second year with the Formula One minnows after making his debut for Minardi in 2005.

The Dutchman scored his only points haul that season, claiming four points after finishing fifth at the US Grand Prix.

Albers has been outperformed by his German team-mate Adrian Sutil this year, his best result his 14th-place finish in Spain.

Does it have anything to do with Christijan's recent performances?

Spyker, who took over the Midland team in 2006, has been open about its need for drivers to bring funding with them.

The Dutch team have also hinted that India's Narain Karthikeyan or Austrian Christian Klien could be a potential replacement for Albers.

Karthikeyan is the second Williams test driver while Klien is testing for Honda after three seasons with Red Bull.

Markus Winkelhock, already under contract to Spyker as a test driver, could also be drafted in for the German Grand Prix.

BMW looking sweet!

The BMW team has made massive progress this season. Last year the team finished in fifth position in the constructors' championship standings, but this season the team is steady in third position and claimed its first podium position last month in Canada.

BMW has been able to establish themselves as the third strongest team after McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari. Following their fifth place in the constructors' championship in their debut season, this means an improvement of two positions, a development which was difficult to predict - but not unexpected from a great manufacturer like BMW. After all, the gap to Renault, the world champions in 2005 and 2006, is already 25 points. Naturally, BMW are determined to hold on to this third place until the end of the season. I don't think they can hope for more - at least not this season. They've already collected 56 world championship points in total, alternatively 36 in the whole last season. Additionally, they have recorded points in every single race of the year and their drivers have reached top ten positions in qualifying for every race so far. Now that is sweet!

It all looks very positive for BMW. Better than expected! All of this is even more satisfying when you consider that BMW hasn't concluded their two-year development phase yet.  BMW is heading in the right direction.

Ferrari in good shape again?

I predict that we are going to see the fortunes swing either way in what's going to be a classic and exciting championship between Ferrari and McLaren.

There have now been nine races and 16 times McLaren had a car on the podium. That helps them with the points. It is so tight now in performance and reliability that any of them can trip up now and that would be very significant. If just one of the cars doesn't score points, then the pendulum swings very quickly.

As I see it - Ferrari needs to score one-two finishes in order to make progress cutting into McLaren's championship lead. The last two races show they're back in form, obviously to get back in the championship they need to do better more often and be consistent - so there's still a lot of work to be done - Kimi is no Schumi. I'll go and say that it looks like Ferrari won courtesy of the fact its car was easier on the tires than McLaren.  Although Kimi's blinding speed on the track is nothing to sneeze at.

It looks like Ferrari was just quicker at Silverstone and they had a bit of an advantage with tire degradation. We saw in the middle stint Fernando was able to build a gap at the start, but they had a bit more fuel on board and when his tires started to go off Ferrari was able to start gaining.

Raikkonen All The Way at Silverstone

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen shattered Lewis Hamilton's dreams of a debut British Grand Prix victory with a copybook second victory in a row.

The Finn, who won at Magny-Cours last weekend, drove a superb race to beat Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, with Hamilton a distant third.

Revitalised Raikkonen has won the last two races

Hamilton was unable to convert his pole position into a win, losing the lead at the first round of pit stops.

But the Briton still holds a 12-point lead over Alonso in the standings.

Raikkonen's victory moves him into third place, one point ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa but still 18 points adrift of Hamilton.

Massa finished fifth following an impressive fightback after he stalled on the grid and was forced to start from the pit lane.

"We had a good car all weekend," said Raikkonen. "At the beginning, I tried to save some fuel and look after car and tires.

"Once we knew had enough fuel I was able to close on Lewis and try to overtake him. But we knew he was coming in so didn't take too much of a risk.

"It was a very nice feeling to win the race. We've been close here a few times but something has happened and we haven't been able to win. Now, finally, we have done it and it's one of the nicest races and feelings.

"Hopefully, the championship is not over. It's still going to be a long season.

"We seem to have good speed now but I think it also depends on the circuit at conditions at the places we go."

Alonso admitted Raikkonen's Ferrari had just been too fast for him to handle.

"We changed the strategy, thinking that we should be able to maintain the lead even at the second stop, so we short-fueled in the first pit stop and started the second stint ahead of Kimi," he said.

"But I was not able to open a gap that was big enough I knew I had to open at least an eight-second gap, and I was only five seconds ahead when I pitted for the second time, so I knew already that maybe it was not enough.

"I lost a little bit of time when I left the pits passing three cars together.

"Kimi had six laps' more fuel, two of them I was overtaking people, so I lost a little bit of time, but I think the result wouldn't have changed. I think the Ferrari was a little bit too quick today."

Hamilton said a lack of speed had denied him the chance of victory in his home Grand Prix.

"We had an interesting race," he said. "It started off quite well. I was trying to open a gap to Kimi but obviously he was very quick, and at the end of the stint the tires were starting to fall away.

"All weekend I was struggling to balance the car. In the last stint it was better. I was very consistent, but I just didn't have the pace."

Hamilton led away at the start, aggressively defending his lead from Raikkonen on the run down to the first corner, with Alonso slotting into third place.

But the Englishman was unable to break clear of Raikkonen, whose looming presence in the 22-year-old's mirrors made it clear he had a faster car.

Hamilton was the first of the leading trio to make a pit stop on lap 16, suggesting he had won pole position by virtue of a lighter car. And he didn't help himself by trying to accelerate away before his crew had finished refueling.

Hamilton couldn't fulfill the expectations of British fans

Then, when Raikkonen emerged from his own first stop two laps later, he was ahead of Hamilton.

But Alonso was still out on the track, and he leapfrogged ahead of both men after his first stop two laps later.

The race soon distilled into a battle between Alonso and Raikkonen, as Hamilton dropped further and further back with an as-yet-unknown problem.

The Spaniard and the Finn were very evenly-matched - Alonso had rejoined with a lead of just under four seconds.

The gap ebbed and flowed with traffic, but averaged around 4.5secs throughout the second stint.

Alonso eked out another second on lap 35 as Raikkonen encountered traffic, but then the world champion himself ran into slower cars on lap 37, when he came in for his final stop.

Had Raikkonen had only a couple of laps of extra fuel, Alonso might have hung on, but the Finn continued until lap 43 and emerged from the pits with a 3.2-second lead.

Underlining the impression that Raikkonen and Ferrari have been the strongest combination all weekend, he edged further ahead as the race wound to a conclusion.

Hamilton dropped further and further behind his team-mate but was under no threat whatsoever from BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica in fourth place.

The Pole was far more concerned with fending off Massa's Ferrari in the closing laps, which he managed to do.

Nick Heidfeld finished sixth in the second BMW Sauber, ahead of the Renaults of Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella.

The Hondas ran reliably but slowly, with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button completing the top 10, ahead of Red Bull's David Coulthard.

 

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British Grand pri race result:

1 K Raikkonen (Fin)        Ferrari         1:21:43.074
2 F Alonso (Spn)         McLaren-Mercedes          +00:02.459
3 L Hamilton (GB)        McLaren-Mercedes           00:39.373
4 R Kubica (Pol)          BMW Sauber        00:53.319
5 F Massa (Brz)           Ferrari           00:54.063
6 N Heidfeld (Ger)         BMW Sauber        00:56.336
7 H Kovalainen (Fin)     Renault              1 lap behond
8 G Fisichella (Ita)    Renault              @ 1 lap
9 R Barrichello (Brz)     Honda               @ 1 lap
10 J Button (GB)         Honda               @ 1 lap
11 D Coulthard (GB)       Red Bull-Renault   @ 1 lap
12 N Rosberg (Ger)          Williams-Toyota     @ 1 lap
13 A Wurz (Aut)        Williams-Toyota    @ 1 lap
14 T Sato (Jpn)             Super Aguri - Honda @ 2 laps
15 C Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari     @ 2 laps
ret  V Liuzzi (Ita)       Toro Rosso-Ferrari 53 laps completed
ret  J Trulli (Ita)            Toyota              43 laps competed
ret A Davidson (GB)      Super Aguri-Honda   35 laps completed
ret  S Speed (US)              Toro Rosso-Ferrari  29 laps completed
ret  R Schumacher (Ger)       Toyota              22 laps completed
ret  A Sutil (Ger)          Spyker-Ferrari    16 laps completed
ret  M Webber (Aus)         Red Bull-Renault   8 laps completed

F1 spy saga continues

A third team has become embroiled in the Formula One spying saga.

It has emerged that Nigel Stepney, the man accused of leaking Ferrari secrets to McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, also approached Honda.

Stepney and Coughlan met Honda team boss Nick Fry last month to discuss them joining the outfit.

A Honda statement said: "At no point during this meeting was any confidential information offered or received."

Honda said Fry had informed the team bosses of Ferrari and McLaren about the meeting and "offered to provide [them] any information required."

The row has dominated the first day's action at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where McLaren boss Ron Dennis insisted his team would ultimately be "completely vindicated".

McLaren have said from the start that Coughlan - who they have not named - was acting independently, and that no other team member was involved.

Stepney has been fired by Ferrari following an internal investigation into allegations that he leaked confidential information.

Ferrari technical information was discovered at Coughlan's house, and he has been suspended by McLaren while they investigate the situation.

Before Honda released their statement, Dennis said he believed further information would come out that would "give a better insight into what has happened, and people's motives".

He added that he had kept Todt and Max Mosley, the president of the F1's governing body the FIA, fully informed of any new developments.

Dennis said that "there was very early on in the discussions with Jean an indication that he was not questioning my personal reputation or that of the company".

He added: "This concerns the intellectual property of another Grand Prix team and there is  no intellectual property of another team on our cars, nor will there be, nor has there ever been.

"We have very high standards in our team. My own integrity is welded into the fabric of our company. I am able to say with certainty that as this unfolds over the next few days people will clearly understand all the facts behind what has been a difficult experience for McLaren.

"I am sure we will be completely vindicated with the passing of time."

British Grand Prix Day 1

Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari look in ominously good form ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix.

The Finn, who won in France last weekend, was comfortably quicker than team-mate Felipe Massa and both McLarens in Friday's second practice.

Raikkonen's best lap of one minute 20.639 seconds was 0.449secs quicker than Massa. Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest nearly 0.75secs behind.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso was down in sixth.

Hamilton, who leads the world championship by 14 points, had been fastest in the day's first 90-minute session, with Raikkonen and Massa just behind him.

Despite having a less successful afternoon, he was happy to take positives from his morning's display.

Alonso had the edge on Hamilton early in the morning session, but failed to keep pace as the day progressed.

The world champion ended the session 0.575secs adrift of Hamilton, and was 0.317secs slower in the afternoon.

As often happens in Friday practice, slower cars appeared in among the Ferraris and McLarens at the top of the times as the teams went about their programs evaluating different set-ups for the race.

And despite the Ferraris' apparent superiority, it is notoriously difficult to predict form from the Friday times as the teams do not reveal the specification in which they run their cars.

In the afternoon, Ralf Schumacher's Toyota - which will almost certainly struggle to make it into the top 10 on pace - was third fastest.

His team-mate Jarno Trulli, who was eighth on the grid in France, was fifth, ahead of Alonso.

Williams's Nico Rosberg was fifth fastest in the morning session, nearly a second behind Hamilton.

The BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were next, followed by Rosberg's team-mate Alexander Wurz and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Englishman Anthony Davidson's Super Aguri.

Strong winds made conditions tricky for the drivers at the exposed Silverstone circuit, and several had spins.

Among them was David Coulthard in the Red Bull, whose car is sporting a new livery for this weekend.

Coulthard ended the first session 18th. In the afternoon, after it had been announced that he would be staying at Red Bull for another season, Coulthard moved up to 14th.

Jenson Button had to sit out the afternoon session for treatment on a bad back. His compatriot Anthony Davidson was 10 th for Super Aguri, behind the Williams cars of Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz and Coulthard's team-mate Mark Webber.

 

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Times from second practice session (Fri):

1 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:20.639
2 F Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:21.138
3 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:21.381
4 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.381
5 J Trulli (It) Toyota 1:21.467
6 F Alonso (Sp) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.616
7 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:21.619
8 A Wurz (Aut) Williams-Toyota 1:21.650
9 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:22.137
10 A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 1:22.143
11 H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:22.189
12 G Fisichella (It) Renault 1:22.257
13 R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:22.372
14 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:22.428
15 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:22.486
16 T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri Honda 1:22.487
17 R Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:22.511
18 C Klien (Aut)  Honda 1:22.833
19 S Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.840
20 V Liuzzi (It) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.105
21 C Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari 1 1:23.113
22 A Sutil (Ger) Spyker-Ferrari 1 1:23.720

Times from first practice session (Fri):

1 L Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.100
2 K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21.211
3 F Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:21.285
4 F Alonso (Spn) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.675
5 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:22.006
6 R Kubica (Pol) BMW-Sauber 1:22.107
7 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW-Sauber 1:22.176
8 A Wurz (Aut) Williams-Toyota 1:22.216
9 R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:22.878
10 R Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:33.956
11 J Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23.030
12 A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.037
13 H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:23.099
14 G Fisichella (It) Renault 1:23.179
15 J Button (GB) Honda 1:23.517
16 T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1:23.548
17 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:23.564
18 D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:23.618
19 S Speed (USA) Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:23.854
20 A Sutil (Ger) Spyker-Ferrari 1:23.954
21 V Liuzzi (It) Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:24.154
22 C Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari 1:24.172

The Ice Man Freezes the French GP

Ferrari reignited their season as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finished first and second at Magny-Cours to end Lewis Hamilton's run of victories.

But Hamilton, 22, took third place to extend his lead to 14 points at the top of the drivers' standings with his eighth consecutive podium finish.

The Ferrari pair had too much pace for McLaren, with Raikkonen gaining the lead from his team-mate on lap 47.

Britain's Jenson Button came eighth to claim his first point of the season.

Defending champion Fernando Alonso, who started from 10th place after a gearbox failure in qualifying, battled his way to seventh place but still lost ground on his McLaren team-mate in the title race.

Alonso trails Hamilton by 14 points, with Massa a further three points behind and Raikkonen five adrift of the Brazilian.

Hamilton started from second on the grid but Raikkonen got off to a lightning start to overhaul the Briton at the first corner.

Raikkonen's 11th victory of his career in France

The Finn called on his superior pace again to get beyond Massa after his second stop on lap 47, overtaking him as he surged out of the pits.

Finally the start worked for him - the 11th victory of his career in France, and his first since his opening day win in Australia.

Massa, who started on pole, had amassed a three-second lead over Raikkonen just before his second stop but his chances faded when he got held up by the back-markers.

He lost the race because of the traffic, he lost too much time and speed, and that was the biggest problem for him.

Hamilton made a sluggish start and, on an unusual three-stop strategy, never really threatened the Ferraris.

However, the British rookie showed his class when he jinked past Robert Kubica at the tight Adelaide Hairpin to regain third after his second stop.

It still says a lot for Hamilton that this result in Magny-Cours was his worst since he was third on his debut in Melbourne, following four successive runner-up places and back-to-back wins in Canada and the United States.

His team-mate Alonso will also be looking for a fresh start after a frustrating French race.

The Spanish double world champion did well to battle back to seventh from 10th on the grid, his hopes stopped cold by a strategy based on the belief that he would be starting from the front of the grid.

But Alonso will nevertheless be disappointed to finish behind Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella after overtaking both of them during the race .

Button will go to next weekend's British Grand Prix with renewed confidence after claiming Honda's first point of the season, following extensive upgrades to his car.

David Coulthard finished 13th for Red Bull while Anthony Davidson, the fourth Briton in the field, retired his Super Aguri after tangling with Vitantonio Liuzzi on the first lap.

Jarno Trulli's race also came to an end in an incident-packed opening lap when he ran into Heikki Kovalainen's Renault and sent him spinning.

That was bad news for Kovalainen, who finished 15th after qualifying in sixth.

It was a much better day for Kubica, who claimed fourth in his first race back after his high-speed crash in Canada.

 

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Results from the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours:

1.  Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)        Ferrari   1hr 30min 54.200
2.  Felipe Massa (Brz)           Ferrari         +00:02.414
3.  Lewis Hamilton (GB)        McLaren-Mercedes          00:32.153
4.  Robert Kubica (Pol)          BMW Sauber       00:41.727
5.  Nick Heidfeld (Ger)         BMW Sauber       00:46.801
6.  Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita)    Renault          00:52.210
7.  Fernando Alonso (Spa)         McLaren-Mercedes          00:56.516
8.  Jenson Button (GB)         Honda            00:58.885
9.  Nico Rosberg (Ger)          Williams-Toyota  01:08.505
10. Ralf Schumacher (Ger)       Toyota               1 lap
11. Rubens Barrichello (Brz)     Honda                1 lap
12. Mark Webber (Aus)         Red Bull-Renault    1 lap
13. David Coulthard (GB)       Red Bull-Renault    1 lap
14. Alexander Wurz (Aut)        Williams-Toyota    1 lap
15. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)     Renault              1 lap
16. Takuma Sato (Jpn)             Super Aguri-Honda    2 laps
17. Adrian Sutil (Ger)          Spyker-Ferrari       2 laps
r.  Scott Speed (US)              Toro Rosso-Ferrari  15 laps
r.  Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari      42 laps
r.  Anthony Davidson (GB)      Super Aguri-Honda   69 laps
r.  Jarno Trulli (Ita)            Toyota              69 laps
r.  Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita)       Toro Rosso-Ferrari  70 laps

r = retired

Fastest Lap: Felipe Massa, 1:16.099, lap 42.

Massa edges out Hamilton for pole

Ferrari's Felipe Massa starts Sunday's French Grand Prix in pole position after beating McLaren's Lewis Hamilton into second in Saturday qualifying.

Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen is third but Fernando Alonso's McLaren was hit by mechanical problems will go off 10th when the race starts.

Brazilian Massa clocked one minute 15.034 seconds, just 0.070secs ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton leads the standings by 10 points from Spanish team-mate Alonso.

Massa's pole was his fourth of the season and seventh of his career, suggesting Ferrari are becoming a real threat again at Magny-Cours.

But the biggest story of the day surrounded Alonso, who suffered his lowest qualifying position since September's Italian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard endured a troubled morning as he spent most of the hour in the garage as mechanics had to replace the brake-sensor system.

It was not until the dying minutes he finally emerged on track, so when a problem occurred at the start of Q3, it was clear the gremlins had bitten again.

It appears his best chance of making his way though the field on Sunday is if conditions are wet at Magny-Cours.

Team-mate and championship leader Hamilton was in upbeat mood despite missing out on pole.

Even Ferrari's apparent revival failed to faze Hamilton.

Massa seems delighted to have a competitive car again.

Behind the front three came Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber, followed by the Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen.

Nick Heidfeld is seventh in the second BMW Sauber, with Jarno Trulli eighth in his Toyota and the Williams of Nico Rosberg in ninth.

Earlier in qualifying, the unreliability of the Red Bulls again came home to roost, with David Coulthard forced to abandon the second session with a mechanical problem, which means he will start in 16th.

For fellow Briton Anthony Davidson, who broke the nose of his Super Aguri car on the left-rear tyre of Liuzzi's Toro Rosso in the pitlane in practice on Friday, it was his worst qualifying performance of the season as he finished in 20th.

 

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Official qualifying result:

1.  Felipe Massa (Brazil)           Ferrari            1:15.034
2.  Lewis Hamilton (Britain)        McLaren            1:15.104
3.  Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)        Ferrari            1:15.257
4.  Robert Kubica (Poland)          BMW Sauber         1:15.493
5.  Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy)    Renault            1:15.674
6.  Heikki Kovalainen (Finland)     Renault            1:15.826
7.  Nick Heidfeld (Germany)         BMW Sauber         1:15.900
8.  Jarno Trulli (Italy)            Toyota             1:15.935
9.  Nico Rosberg (Germany)          Williams-Toyota    1:16.328
10. Fernando Alonso (Spain)         McLaren
11. Ralf Schumacher (Germany)       Toyota             1:15.534
12. Jenson Button (Britain)         Honda              1:15.584
13. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil)     Honda              1:15.761
14. Mark Webber (Australia)         RedBull-Renault    1:15.806
15. Scott Speed (U.S.)              Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.049
16. David Coulthard (Britain)       RedBull-Renault
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy)       Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.142
18. Alexander Wurz (Austria)        Williams-Toyota    1:16.241
19. Anthony Davidson (Britain)      Super Aguri-Honda  1:16.366
20. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari     1:17.826
21. Adrian Sutil (Germany)          Spyker-Ferrari     1:17.915
22. Takuma Sato (Japan)*            Super Aguri-Honda  1:16.244
*awarded a 10-place penalty after overtaking under yellow flag conditions at US Grand Prix