Kimi Raikkonen led Ferrari to a one-two finish and back into the battle for this year’s Formula One world championship on Sunday when he won the French Grand Prix in emphatic style. The Italian team delivered their first one-two of the season and the first in 14 races since last year’s German Grand Prix.
Brazilian Felipe Massa ended Lewis Hamilton’s two-race domination of Formula One by taking pole position ahead of the young Briton on Saturday for Sunday’s French Grand Prix. The Latin-American Ferrari driver clocked a fastest lap in the final segment of qualifying with a time of one minute, 15,034 seconds.
Michael Schumacher cruised to a polished victory for Ferrari in Sunday’s French Grand Prix and then set his sights on a remarkable eighth drivers’ world title. The 37-year-old German, seven-times drivers’ world champion, drove a faultless race to finish ahead of defending champion Fernando Alonso of Spain.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Formula One is becoming a bore. The 1997 world champion, who at 35 is one of the senior men still on duty in motor racing’s elite division, said he believed most teams now preferred to recruit young, cheap and ”corporate” drivers.
Defending world drivers’ champion Fernando Alonso believes that this weekend’s French Grand Prix will see him bounce back from his disappointment in America last time out. The 24-year-old Spaniard could only finish fifth in his Renault at the United States Grand Prix as his title rival Michael Schumacher won for Ferrari to cut his championship lead to 19 points with eight races left.
Fernando Alonso wanted to savour the moment. The Renault driver had time to slow down in front of the stands filled with blue-and-yellow Renault supporters and hold up five fingers — indicating his number of victories this season. Alonso has now won five of the season’s 10 races and has six career wins.
Donkey-riding protesters seeking to banish the French Grand Prix from central France overshadowed Friday’s opening practice session for Sunday’s race. The protesters, waving banners, blocked a road about 15km from the Magny-Cours circuit. If their protest continued, it could seriously disrupt traffic for Sunday’s race.