French Grand Prix: Massa Gifted French Win

This weekends French Grand Prix had two distinct characteristics. One and perhaps the most important facet was the sheer dominance of the Ferrari team. The other aspect was controversy surrounding the stewards and the Mclaren team yet again.

Qualifying

Wherever Lewis Hamilton managed to qualify he knew already that for his mistake in the Montreal pit lane he would be penalised 10 places. Joining Hamilton in this punishment was Nico Rosberg for Williams. With this in mind the first session began.

Hamilton and the Ferrari's were quick, it appeared as though Mclaren may not be too far off the pace. Struggling for pace and grip however were the duo who led the field home 1 and 2 in Canada. Both Heidfeld and Kubica were slow in the first session.

Controversy surrounded this first session of qualifying when Mark Webber who had already done enough to enter qualifying 2 came across the Mclaren of Kovalainen and the Williams of Nakajima both about to begin hot laps in the penultimate Lycee corner. Webber was badly held up but the two drivers were in each others way as well and were also about to begin a hot lap. It was unfortunate incident which didn't damage Webber's chances and was unavoidable for the others involved. Curiously, in the pictures, Nakajima was the driver in the way on the racing line and yet Kovalainen later that day was the man slapped with a 5 place grid penalty for the incident.

Second qualifying saw the demise of Nick Heidfeld. The German was unable to find any pace whatsoever and went out of the session. Massa, as he had done before in qualifying 1 topped the times.

However, it was all change in the third session and Ferrari and Raikkonen in particular stamped their authority on the rest with blistering pace and a front row lock out for the Scuderia. Hamilton could manage only third and worse, Kovalainen 6th. Kubica struggled to 7th. It was a good day for both Toyota drivers and both Red Bull drivers, all were in the top 10. Raikkonen had sealed the 200th team Pole Position.

Race

When the lights went out the Ferrari's both left the grid in formation, Raikkonen leading away with Massa close behind. Coulthard and Mark Webber in the Red Bulls had an atrocious start and were quickly swallowed by the pack behind, which included the two Mclarens.

Lewis Hamilton had promised a charge through the field and that is what he set about delivering. He passed a few drivers at the start and then in the run up to the chicane before 180, Hamilton lunged past the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel. After passing the young German, Hamilton got some oversteer and slithered onto the infield of the chicane momentarily. No advantage was gained but later, Mclaren would be slapped with their third penalty of the weekend in the form of a drive through penalty for Lewis.

Elsewhere Jenson Button had made contact with the other Toro Rosso of home boy Sebastian Bourdais and had damaged both cars. Button was forced to retire a lap later, Bourdais survived and finished the race but shed his rear wing end fence in the second fast chicane.

For Formula One's lower down teams it was a quiet and uneventful afternoon. But in the lower points positions things were hectic and hard fought. The battle involved both of the Renaults, the two Mclarens, the two Red Bulls and the two Toyotas with Robert Kubica featuring as well.

The rain that was threatening never did arrive in earnest and a few harmless spots were all that were seen. Kovalainen ended up in a hard fought battle with Toyota's Jarno Trulli with a bitter duel ending in a forcing off the circuit of Kovalainen by the very determined Italian driver. Kovalainen recovered to finish 4th.

Further back in the very closing stages Fernando Alonso slithered a bit too quickly into the Adelaide hairpin and his young and under pressure team mate Piquet managed to pass him, hanging on to finish 7th and kickstart his Formula One points account. Robert Kubica managed 5th position and Mark Webber finished 6th again scoring for Red Bull.

At the front things did not go smoothly for Kimi Raikkonen. He possessed a commanding lead but around lap 39 the Finns Ferrari had an exhaust problem with one of the outlets breaking off and the body work and airbox burning up. The exhaust section in question had broken off and was flapping around dangerously. Massa assumed the lead as Raikkonen had to back off and nurse the Ferrari home for the points.

Massa was gifted this win since he had not been able to live with his team mate all race until problems struck Kimi Raikkonen. What was perhaps curious was that the broken exhaust presented a danger to those following Raikkonen. Around the lap 50 mark the broken section swung off violently in the first turn. Why was Raikkonen not flagged to come in and have the section removed? 

Controversy has surrounded the proceedings once again at the French Grand Prix as it did two weeks ago. It would appear clear at this stage that Mclaren are being perhaps victimised now by the FIA and being made an example of. Mclaren and Hamilton in particular are keeping quiet about their feelings on the matter, simply saying they disagree with the Hamilton drive through penalty. This issue and of course the Championship are sure to become more heated in Silverstone.