Ferrari driver Felipe Massa drove past team mate Kimi Raikkonen to bag his third victory in the 2008 season at the French Grand Prix Felipe Massa stole victory from unlucky Kimi who developed a mysterious breakage at the rear end of the car, burning a hole near the exhaust, but managed to hold his second position to the podium. The hero of the day however, was the third place finish of the Toyota driver Jarno Trulli who utilised all the Formula One experience to keep McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen at bay en route to the podium.
The Ferraris were the clear winners in a circuit which required the cars to be absolutely perfect. The first half of the race was dominated by Kimi Raikkonen who developed a mysterious dent in the rear end of his car. A part exhaust pipe of his Ferrari was seen dangling in the car and the heat from the engine made a huge hole in the rear. This caused heavy damage to the aero dynamics of the car and gave Felipe Massa the opportunity to pass him. Kimi, who had a 25 second lead over third place Jarno Trulli, maintained his second position up to the podium with ease.
The man of the French GP was Toyota driver Jarno Trulli who made the first move and captured the third place from Fernando Alonso. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton too began in a classic fashion jumping three positions within the first few seconds of the race and was holding on to the 9 th position for a long time. Lewis had probably the most unlucky of days as on one hand he was battling Nelson Piquet Jr. for the eighth place and on the other was awarded a drive through penalty by the stewards who thought the Britain had gained an unfair advantage in the first lap when he went wide of the curbs on turn seven. The drive through penalty meant that he would be out on track back in 13 th position before having to pit again. Despite all the luck, Hamilton finished in a very commendable tenth place, but missing out on some crucial points.
His team-mate however had a mixed outing. Starting in sixth place Heikki drove himself to fourth barely missing the podium because of some brilliant driving be Toyota’s Jarno Trulli who bagged his first podium after the Australian podium in 2006.
Honda had early problems has Jenson Button managed to clip his front wing in the very first lap and had to pit early. But the damage to the car was far worse than what it looked as he had to retire soon after. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello had a forgetful day in the office as he finished last.
The BMWs clearly had their worst race of the season as the team who was consistently managing at least one podium finished, showed clear signs of struggle. Winner of the last race, Robert Kubica failed to prove a threat to anyone on track and quietly finished in fifth place. Nick Heidfeld’s race was just as disastrous as his qualifying on Saturday, finished thirteenth.
Team Renault, who has been relying for too long on their star performer and former world champion Fernando Alonso, had a surprise winner in the name of teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. who raced past the Renault No.1 driver after a crucial braking mistake at the hairpin turn. Fernando who was struggling from the beginning of the race his seventh position to Nelson Piquet who drove a very aggressive race despite the criticism he’s been facing from the beginning of the season regarding his temperament.
Force India had managed to complete the entire race as both drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil drove the complete race at the back of the grid, finishing eighteenth and nineteenth respectively.
Over all the French Grand Prix proved to be as exciting as the previous two races, despite being incident free. The cars were truly tested in French circuit that had some high speed straights and tight hairpins, requiring the cars to be high on down force as well as extremely throughout.
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