Formula One: Ferrari Quinella Has Never Looked More Likely

Everyone knows that Magny-Cours is built to suit fast, high-powered cars.  Ferrari fits that description to a T, and after Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa qualified at the sharp end of the grid, it looks almost impossible to prevent an all-red quinella.

Regular nemesis Lewis Hamilton has no chance after being demoted from third on the grid to 13th.  Likewise, another normally strong chance, Heikki Kovalainen, will be out of contention, demoted from sixth to 11th.

Fernando Alonso will be in the best position to see the rear ends of Raikkonen and Massa, and he has only been unplaced once on this circuit when driving for Renault.  He must be strongly fancied for a podium placing again this year.

The other contender for third place is Robert Kubica, who should have no trouble getting past Jarno Trulli (who is drawn just ahead of him), and will then hope for Alonso to make a mistake, or that he can get a little more out of the BMW than Alonso can from his Renault.

Raikkonen and Massa are likely to use their draws to set up a team win, but with the long opening stretch, all drivers are likely to get a fair start, so if Alonso can start well he may have a chance to get between them early, which would have a major impact on tactics.

If Ferrari can manage to make it to Turn 3 without being split, then the race will be theirs to lose.  From there, they can let it rip all the way to Turn 5, and nobody is going to catch a pair of Ferraris in full flight if they have a head start.

At Turn 5, they need to slow to a crawl.  It is a dangerous first-gear bend that needs to be negotiated at under 50 km/h, but once they are through that, they can put on another burst of speed.

With each subsequent lap, they should pull further and further ahead on the exit from Turn 3.  Only extreme bad luck or a major tactical blunder will prevent this quinella result.

Prediction:

1. Raikkonen
2. Massa
3. Alonso
4. Kubica
5. Coulthard
6. Trulli
7. Heidfield
8. Glock