Massa leads Ferrari 1-2 finish at the French GP

Felipe Massa took lead of the driver’s championship after a decisive victory for Ferrari at the Magny-Cours circuit. Massa trailed Kimi Raikkonen for 38 of 70 laps but moved ahead as Kimi’s F2008 developed an exhaust problem. Kimi Raikkonen otherwise had a great race and easily finished second behind his teammate Massa. No other team could actually stood up against the red cars. Jarno Trulli finished 3rd behind Kimi giving Toyota their first podium since 2005.

Trulli fended off a last minute challenge from McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen who finished 4th, bringing some cheer to the not so excited McLaren camp. He did great after starting from 10th position to finish 4th. Winner of Canadian GP Robert Kubica managed to garner some points for his BMW team to stay in the race for the Driver’s championship, he finished 5th ahead of Webber, Piquet and Alonso, both of Renault.

It was a disastrous afternoon for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who finished 10th behind Red Bull’s David Coulthard after starting from 13th position on grid. Force India as usual finished last and Honda’s Jenson Button was the only driver who retired.

With 1-2 finish Ferrari have taken a commanding 17 points lead over BMW Sauber to stay on top in the Constructor’s Championship. BMW Sauber are second followed by McLaren Mercedes way far behibd the leaders. Force India Ferrari are yet to open their account 🙁

Victory here makes Massa the first Brazilian to lead the world championship since Ayrton Senna at Monaco in 1993. He has 48 points to Kubica’s 46 and Raikkonen’s 43. Hamilton trails with 38 after his second race without scoring points.

Race Results (Points Finishers):
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
3. Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
4. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren Mercedes)
5. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)
6. Mark Webber (Red Bul-Renault)
7. Nelsinho Piquet (Renault)
8. Fernando Alonso (Renault)

Constructor’s Standing (Top 5):
1. Ferrari– 91 Points
2. BMW Sauber– 74 Points
3. McLaren-Mercedes– 58 Points
4. Red Bull-Renault- 24 Points
5. Toyota– 23 Points

Driver’s Standings (Top 6):
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)- 48 Points
2. Robert Kubics (BMW Sauber)- 46 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)- 43 Points
4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)- 38 Points
5. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)- 28 Points
6. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes)- 20 Points

For Complete Race Results visit here.
For Constructor’s Standings visit here.
For Driver’s Standings visit here.