Ferrari Shows Top Quality at F1 French Gran Prix
By Claudia Beckford
The most recent Formula One Grand Prix at the Magny-cours circuit in France was a real quality display for the Italian team Ferrari. The Brazilian Felipe Massa Ferrari’s second driver obtained a well-deserved victory as he took advantage of the opportunities which arose during the race. This became Massa’s third victory during the present season and his 8th victory career-wise.
Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is also the first Ferrari driver was at first leading the race but suddenly his vehicle began to slow down and lost his paste. Despite the mechanical problem Raikkonen managed to finish 17.9 seconds behind Massa for a second place in the podium.
Massa did make some comments after his teammate lost the leading position …”I didn’t expect that, sometimes you need a little bit of luck…The championship is still 100 per cent open and we still have many races to go. “It’s nice but my dream is not to lead the championship, it is to win the championship. And I’m going to do my best to achieve that.”
In France we were able to see how strong Ferrari has become and how well the vehicles are responding despite the small difficult Raikkonen had to face. The third place was taken by Jarno Trulli Toyota’s driver whose victory becomes his first podium position of the season. For the moment Ferrari’s Massa is leading the standings board with a total of 48 points.
The big surprise this time was that of Lewis Hamilton who had one of his worst races as he began in 10-place due to a penalty he had to fulfill as during the previous Canadian Grand Prix he ran into Raikkonen in the pit-lane. A real disappointment for the McLaren team as things seemed to get back on track again.
“So, rules are rules,” shrugged Hamilton. “I don’t think I did anything (wrong). I went into the corner believing I was ahead on the outside and couldn’t turn in on the guy otherwise we would have crashed, so I took a wider line. “Then I lost the back (of the car) on the marbles, I would have thought, and went over the kerb and continued. I don’t believe I overtook him by going over the kerb. I overtook him before that and as a result I was forced wide.”
Up to this point Ferrari leads the 2008 standings with 91 points followed by BMW-Sauber with 74 points and in third place McLaren with 58 points. There are still several races ahead and it is very possible McLaren will try to recover but if the gap difference between the second and third places continues to grow apart McLaren’s chances to grasp the World Championship will be denied once again.
On the contrary, Ferrari keeps a steady paste and the point difference between them and the rest is very solid; also both drivers Raikkonen and Massa are simply at the top of their careers which could certainly be a fact that will later determine who will be the absolute winner.
Next Sunday July 6th Santander will be the British Grand Prix scenario where last year Raikkonen proclaimed himself the champion but it is a new competition and all drivers have the same chances to triumph and win additional points.
About the author:
Claudia Beckford provides current Grand Slam tennis content as well as information in the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.
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