Welcome to Updatesport’s review of the French Grand Prix in a week where Formula One has been rocked by scandal. We will be dealing with that at a later date, so let’s see what this week’s contributors – Lita, Dylan, Braden, James and myself Steve – had to say about the last visit to Magny Cours:
Steve: Ferraris first and second – is this the beginning of a come-back, or a one off? Let’s start with Braden, one not known for his pro-Maranello stance!
Braden: I don’t think that it is a Ferrari comeback and as someone who does not like Ferrari, I sincerely hope it is not!
Steve: True to form as always!
Dylan: It was fantastic!!!! Great to see a Ferrari 1-2 after way to much silver up the pointy end of the field.
James: I'm so annoyed! I knew it'd be Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton but I never got down to put a bet on! Well that aside, who would have thought after his performances this season Mr R would come out and do that! It was a very well taken victory and he drove an incredibly sensible race so hats off to you Kimi, we could be seeing the rise of the Red Finn from here on in so it's going to be interesting to watch.
Steve: I managed to get my bets on as it happens! What about Raikkonen – was this the ‘old’ Kimi on the bounce-back?
Lita: He's finally shown his old self. It was great that he managed to get by Hamilton at the start, and although perhaps aided by traffic, he still managed to put one over Massa. He can't be faulted for that. I hope he continues this form from now on.
Dylan: Whatever they put in Kimi’s Vodka… keep doing it! This race certainly looks like a resurgence of the red squad just looking at the margins they had over the weekend.
Braden: Drive of the day goes to Kimi; he kept his head down and put in the quick laps when it counted to get the lead from Massa.
Steve: On the vodka point, it was reported that Kimi chose to forego a traditional summer festival in Finland that involves – basically – getting drunk and falling down. Looks like he made the right decision!
Lita: My drive of the day goes to Raikkonen - at last!
James: In a way you have to feel sorry for Massa as he did everything right all weekend but just didn't pick up the win- saying that it does show he could have pushed harder and prevented loosing out the way he did.
Dylan: Traffic seemed the key for the weekend. They held up Massa but Kimi was able to make better time through them so got the win.
Steve: I thought Massa looked a bit shell-shocked afterwards, as if he simply had not seen it coming. So two drives of the day to Raikkonen so far…
Dylan: Drive of the day though goes to Button. It was a great recovery by the Honda team to get their first points. Button drove a lone race and was solid in eighth with no one around him but he was certainly pushing hard when you compare his race to his lackluster team mate who seemed to be driving the Rubens Railroad in France.
James: Mr Heidfeld in his BMW. He did tremendously well to keep the McLaren of Alonso behind him for so long and just proved even more what a class act he was.... How different could his story have been if he'd gone to McLaren instead of Kimi?
Lita: Alonso was pretty good as well, although not managing to get up past 7th, he still put on a pretty good show with his battles with Fisi and Heidfeld. Overtaking move of the race would definitely go to him for his impressive pass of Heidfeld. I love how he just went for it and practically shoved him out of the way, showing exactly why he is a two time champ.
Dylan: Alonso seemed to be pushing extremely well all for no avail. He passed Heidfeld and Fisichella but was only lightly filled it seemed as he had longer pit stops and lost whatever ground he made on the track, in the pits.
Steve: It was great to watch, and a prime example of what drivers can do when they have no option but to try.
Braden: I don’t think Alonso was trying too hard, he knew he had to get in front as fast as he could and he tried that but it didn’t work, but at least he was trying to over take unlike some other drivers.
Steve: Now from the good to the less so, what about the French GP duffers? Christijan Albers came up with the greatest quote by a Grand prix driver ever in the preceding week with the line “I am not an Ostrich”. Then he went and drove like an idiot.
Dylan: Hard to decide who is worse for the dunce of the race though? On one hand we had Trulli the Destroyer, taking full blame for the carnage at turn 5 that seemed to compromise half the field, or Albers the Ostrich for shooting out of the pits while the first gear sign was still in his face, taking the refueling rig with him. I think I’ll go with the Ostrich though, crashes are a reasonably common occurrence, however disobeying the lollypop man is one of the worst sins a racing driver can make.
Lita: Worst of the day is a toss up between Albers and Trulli. Albers for his unbelievably dangerous pit stop and Trulli for not only ruining Kovalainen's race, but that of his own team-mate as well. Ralf was ahead of the two Hondas before Trulli hit Kovalainen, when it did happen he had to immediately brake and he fell behind both of them. We all know how slow Barrichello was that day, and as Dylan mentioned, 'It's no longer the Trulli Train, it's the Rubens Railway'. He is really the ultimate weapon for Honda; while Rubens holds them all up, Jenson can go for it and get the points. They should have been implementing this strategy since Melbourne!
Braden: Albers, well I don’t know what he was thinking because it was not like the lollipop was raised at all during that stop. He should be booted from the team at the end of the year even if he is sleeping with the owner’s daughter.
Steve: I do believe he’s married to her! There are stories that he will be replaced for the European GP by Marcus Winkelhock.
Braden: Worst drive of the day goes to Davidson because I don’t know what he was thinking, he really forgot to use the brakes into turn one and used Liuzzi as a stopper instead.
Dylan: As great as the Ferrari rise was though, what happened to Red Bull and Toro Rosso? They showed plenty of pace early in the weekend but never got any faster as the weekend progressed. At least both Red Bull cars finished for a change. And Super Aguri, what’s happened to them? Sato looked good early, but like the McLarens, he seemed to pit quite early and was never seen in the race again.
James: Lower down the field is what interested me most. The Renaults look to have found some of there old form, BMW continue to look good, Honda might have finally found some speed, Red Bull just need to sort out the reliability and they'll be well in the mix, Williams I feel are starting to drop off a little but I'm sure they'll pick up again next weekend so the second half of the season is going to produce some great battles in the middle as well as the McLaren Ferrari fight at the front, Even at the back the Spykers look like they've closed the gap on the Super Aguris and Toro Rosso's so there's some squabbles there too!
Steve: I’ve just noticed that for the first time this year we have got near the end of a review without mentioning Lewis Hamilton!
James: I'm not really going to bother mentioning Lewis as he's just proving time and again why he deserves the McLaren seat and all the hype!
Steve: And with that, we look forward to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend, in sunny England. Thank you to all of the contributors for your thoughts, and I look forward to talking to you next week.
Now, moving on to the feature that has you frothing at the mouth, chomping at the bit, and generally wanting to poke needles under Braden’s fingernails, yes, it’s the legendary, the one and only, the more-controversial- than-Stepneygate BRADES GRADES!
Driver Grades:
Kimi Raikkonen – A
It was a solid drive for Kimi which brought him back to the winners circle for the first time since Australia. It was a race he needed to win so that he could instill confidence in his team and himself. He was however a little fortunate to win as Massa caught traffic on his out lap and following laps before Raikkonen came out.
Felipe Massa – A-
Massa’s good weekend was spoiled only by the fact that he caught some traffic on his out laps of his second stop that put him behind Kimi. Massa could have been faster through the traffic and he would have come out in front.
Lewis Hamilton – A-
By his own admission, Lewis Hamilton could have and should have been on pole position for the French Grand Prix. However he wasn’t and then he was jumped on the start by Kimi. Being on a lower amount of fuel this ended his race then and there as he was never going to catch the Ferraris.
Robert Kubica – A
This was a welcome return to Grand Prix racing for Kubica after his horrendous accident in Montreal. He had a great qualifying performance, finished as high up in the race as possible and easily beat his team mate.
Nick Heidfeld – B+
France was not the best race for Heidfeld even though he did come in a credible fifth place. He was upstaged by his younger team mate in qualifying and was easily pushed out the way by Alonso early in the race, but due to his strategy he managed to come out ahead of Alonso.
Giancarlo Fisichella – B+
After a fantastic qualifying performance at Renault’s home race, Fisichella will be disappointed that he dropped a position to Heidfeld and that he was pushed all the way by Alonso who started tenth. He will have to improve himself for the British Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso – B+
Some days you have it, some days you don’t and in Fernando’s case he didn’t have any luck this weekend. Looking good for a top 4 position on the grid, he came out into Q3 to only have his gearbox die. Then throughout the race he was caught behind slower drivers and had to make audacious passes, but due to his three stop strategy he fell straight behind those guys he managed to pass. If he had got them early in the race, he would have been fine.
Jenson Button – A-
Finally Button produced his best drive of the season and managed to get a point for the struggling Honda team. After taking his first Grand Prix win last year, many thought Button would contend for the Championship, however he won’t this season and he hasn’t been himself, so getting a point might rejuvenate his and Honda’s season.
Nico Rosberg – B
I bet that Nico is starting to feel like his old team mate Mark Webber, because he is continuously just missing the points. This weekend he finished ninth after starting ninth which followed his USA weekend of not finishing while in the points. He will be disappointed that he did not start further up the grid as his car was fast during the practice sessions. This cost him a shot at the points, as well as being passed by Button.
Ralf Schumacher – A-
I can see pigs flying in the sky, which must be due to Ralf finally making a statement back on European soil. After suffering embarrassing qualifying and race performances through the start of the year, Ralf was finally back to his best when he managed to get through the race undamaged and finish in a respectable tenth. Well done Ralf.
Rubens Barrichello – B-
A good yet uneventful race for the other Honda driver has he managed to bring his car home once again. He held up the Red Bulls for the majority of the race and was passed late on by Ralf, but since it was not for points it did not matter too much.
Mark Webber – C+
It was a disappointing day for both Red Bull drivers who struggled at Magny Cours all weekend. That is such a shame for a car that was progressing well but you can’t win them all. Webber didn’t help himself by making a mistake in qualifying.
David Coulthard – C+
DC was compromised in qualifying two with his gearbox having problems on his first lap out. After starting 16th he never recovered and was forced to sit behind his team mate and Barrichello all race.
Alex Wurz – C-
Yet again this season Alex Wurz has struggled in qualifying and it has ultimately cost him in the race. Although he did a great job to reach the top fifteen in the race, he will not forgive himself for starting so low on the grid after being dropped in qualifying one.
Heikki Kovalainen – A-
The unfortunate part of the race for Heikki was the first lap as that is when his race effectively ended. He was tagged by Trulli after making a good start from a good qualifying spot. This tag sent him to the back of the pack and he never really recovered.
Takuma Sato – C-
Takuma Sato was always going to be hurt in qualifying terms due to his ten spot penalty for his indiscretion at the USA Grand Prix. But even still he never gathered any momentum during the race and finished behind Kovalainen who was well down after one lap and even did three stops.
Adrian Sutil – B-
This weekend saw another solid yet unspectacular drive from Sutil as he managed to bring his car home in one piece once again. He was easily beating his team mate until Albers retired and was setting good consistent laps.
Scott Speed – C+
After an impressive qualifying performance, Speed will be unhappy that he did not make more of his race before the car died on him. He was never in the hunt to finish higher up that 14th or so and that will be disappointing for him after qualifying 15th.
Christijan Albers – E
What was Albers thinking? The lollipop was still down and never rose, but he just took off and took the entire rigging with him. Luckily for him his team was not injured but I dare say he is skating on thin ice at Spyker after doing nothing of note all season.
Anthony Davidson – D-
Another poor qualifying session put Davidson down the back of the grid once again and to make up for this he had to do some drastic overtaking. Unfortunately for him and Liuzzi, he decided to take Liuzzi and himself out in the process of turn one, ending their races quite prematurely.
Jarno Trulli – D-
For the first time in a long time it was the sister Toyota doing the damage during the race. This time Trulli got into the back of Kovalainen and ruined both their races. Since Jarno started so high on the grid, one would have thought he may get some points, but this was no to be.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – C
Tonio Liuzzi was in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was catapulted into by Davidson. While trying to get his car back in a straight line he then gave Davidson back and then some more, taking both cleanly out the race. He should have been higher up on the grid though, somewhere around his team mate but he could not get it done in qualifying
Team Grades:
Ferrari – A+
This was a good display from the red machines as they took their first one-two of the year. This result coupled with Fernando’s poor performance in two of the last three races gives Ferrari a good chance of getting back into the hunt for the constructors and drivers titles.
McLaren – B
France was a poor weekend for McLaren not only in terms of reliability but also pace. Alonso suffered a gear box break down in qualifying which put him in an awkward position for the race but Lewis Hamilton was never in with a chance as he was not at the regular pace the McLaren would be expected to have.
BMW – A
Finally BMW are back to two cars finishing and it has been a long time coming. They won’t be pleased that they seem to be further behind both Ferrari and McLaren but they will be happy to just pick up a double lot of points.
Renault – B
Usually being at a home Grand Prix makes the cars do something special, but this was not the case at this French Grand Prix as both Renaults struggled for pace. Kovalainen was tagged early on and Fisichella fell back a place and this ruined their races as their pace was not good enough to catch the front runners.
Honda – B+
This weekend saw a minor improvement in pace for Honda and that will delight the drivers who have had to battle through hard times for the entire season. Getting a point was also important for Morale, even if two cars in front did retire early.
Williams – C+
Unfortunately for Williams this was not the usual pace that we see from them at the European rounds and they will be extremely disappointed. They won’t be happy that Wurz struggled again either and he looks to be skating on thin ice himself.
Toyota – B-
Toyota did not improve on their previous efforts at the Grand Prix’s but they will be happy that their expensive driver in Ralf Schumacher finally finished a race in a respectable position without help. Trulli continues to qualify in the top ten, but they need to push the development a lot more.
Red Bull – C-
This was a very disappointing weekend for Red Bull as they gave no indication of an improvement or any pace whatsoever as they struggled through qualifying and into 12th and 13th place. Hopefully for DC’s home race they can make a big improvement back into the points.
Super Aguri – D+
Minnows Super Aguri will be going back to England with their tails between their legs after an extremely disappointing finish to the French GP. Both drivers struggled with pace and conditions in qualifying and then Davidson’s race was over early and Sato never got going.
Toro Rosso – D+
Like sister squad Red Bull, Toro Rosso struggled during qualifying and the race with pace. Both drivers didn’t finish, one was due to an accident but Scott Speed’s retirement was totally mechanical and they will be disappointed with the finish to this Grand Prix.
Spyker – D
Not a good weekend for Spyker as they seemed to fall back off the pace further than they have for a while. They will also be disappointed at the pit crew and Albers for the accident in the second pit stop. They have a new chassis coming really soon so let’s hope that it brings them some better luck and closer racing.
Written by Steve, Lita, Dylan, Braden, James - Edited by Stev on Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:24:55
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