French Grand Prix made for an Exciting Weekend

Formula One racing fans no doubt already know the results of this weekend’s racing at Magny-Cours: Felipe Massa took the checkered flag followed closely by Kimi Raikkonen, with Jarno Trulli coming it at third place. Let us recap on this weekend’s magnificent racing.

The French Grand Prix started with Lewis Hamilton at 13th on the grid. After his recent atrocious accident in the pit lane in Canada, many would argue that it’s only fair that he starts further back than he is used to. The position is, in fact, the lowest grid placing he has ever had in his career. During the race he managed to wrack up another penalty by charging through the field a bit too early – he made up three places by the end of the first lap! Unfortunately for Hamilton, race stewards felt that his pass on Sebastian Vettel was not within the rules and so they penalized him and this crushed any hope of him finishing in the top eight. The Briton seemed to be so eager to make up ground that he even bumped tires with Fernando Alonso at one point. In the end he managed to finish tenth and he now trails winner Felipe Massa by just ten points.

As usual, the red Ferraris led the pack for most of the race. Felipe Massa and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen spent much of the race vying for first place and it was clear that they were in a league of their own. For much of the race it seemed that Raikkonen had the upper hand. He was able to pull away from his team mate after the first round of pit stops and it appeared as if Massa would not be able to catch him. However, with each passing lap Massa slowly closed the gap – mainly due to the fact that Raikkonen had managed to damage his rear tailpipe. Just past the halfway point, Massa was able to make his move and overtake Raikkonen, putting himself in first place. He stayed in first place for the rest of the race with Raikkonen only just managed to drift over the finish line in second after his tailpipe worked loose ten laps from the end of the race.

Massa’s victory at the Circuit de Nevers was no small feat. For the first time in his six-season career he is now leading the Formula One world championship; he is the first Brazilian to top the driver’s standings in 15 years. Massa’s hero Ayrton Senna was the last person from his country to do this. This was also the first time in ten years that a Toyota has been able to join the Ferraris on the podium. Jarno Trulli had to work really hard to keep McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen behind him in the closing laps, but he managed to do so despite some light rain. All in all it was a great and unpredictable race.