2007 French Grand Prix

  2007 French Grand Prix

Race details
Race 8 of 17 in the 2007 Formula One season.
Date	July 1 2007
Official name	XCIII Grand Prix de France
Location	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France
Course	Permanent racing facility 4.411 km (2.74 mi)
Distance	70 laps, 308.77 km (191.8 mi)
Pole position
Driver	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time	1:15.034
Fastest lap
Driver	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time	1:16.099 on lap 42
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Second	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes

The 2007 French Grand Prix was the eighth race of the 2007 Formula One season. It was held on 29 June–1 July at Magny-Cours.^[1]

In March 2007, the Fédération Française du Sport (FFSA) stated their intention to rest the Magny-Cours circuit from the Formula One world championship for the 2008 season.^[2] However, on 31 May, Bernie Ecclestone announced that the Grand Prix would not be returning to the circuit, and hence the 2007 French Grand Prix would be the last to be held at Magny Cours.^[3]

It was won by Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari, followed by team-mate Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes.

Report

Background

Following the United States Grand Prix, the Formula One teams headed to Silverstone for a three-day test. Nine teams participated with the exception of Honda and Super Aguri who opted to test at the Jerez circuit.^[4] Neither Ferrari nor McLaren were fastest on the first two days at Silverstone, rather it was Toyota that was fastest on both of the days.^[5][6] However, on the third and final day of testing Felipe Massa put Ferrari on top with a time of 1:20.805. The nearest challenger, Nico Rosberg was 0.469 behind, with Fernando Alonso a further 0.010 behind.^[7] With Ferrari fastest on the third day, both of their drivers, Massa and Kimi Räikkönen were very confident heading into the French round of the season.^[8][9]

Off track Ferrari launched a criminal investigation in Modena against their own employee Nigel Stepney.^[10] Stepney's lawyer ruled out sabotage claims,^[11] and Stepney said it was part of a "dirty tricks" campaign.^[12]

There was also controversy at the rear-end of the grid, as Spyker asked the FIA to look at the new updates that were put on the Super Aguri at Indianapolis to see whether the Aguri team are receiving current Honda parts.^[13] On Saturday, Super Aguri's managing director Daniel Audetto said "We have rules - they [Spyker] can just protest. Tell them to protest - if I have something to complain about, I will make a protest."^[14]

Robert Kubica was back in his BMW after his crash at the Canadian Grand Prix.^[15] Early on Saturday, Nick Heidfeld was cleared to continue in his BMW after experiencing back pains during Friday practice.^[16]

Practice

Ferrari dominated both practice sessions on the Friday, with Räikkönen fastest in the first Practice Session and Felipe Massa was fastest in the 2nd Practice Session. Behind the Ferraris, Alonso was third in his McLaren, but seven tenths behind, with his team-mate and World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton sixth, but lost nearly an hour of the session due to car trouble. The two McLarens were split by David Coulthard and Nico Rosberg.^[17]

Hamilton managed to recover from his morning trouble to post the fourth fastest time in the 2nd Practice Session on Friday afternoon. The Ferraris were still leading, but Massa was fastest, just 0.035 seconds ahead of Räikkönen. However, one of the major surprises came from Scuderia Toro Rosso, as Scott Speed posted the third quickest time, with Vitantonio Liuzzi posting the fifth quickest time. During the session, Liuzzi was involved in a bizarre incident with Anthony Davidson; Davidson exited his garage, and smashed his Super Aguri into the side of Liuzzi's Toro Rosso; knocking his front wing off in the accident.^[18] Alonso finished the second practice session eighth.^[19]

In the final practice session on Saturday morning, Hamilton managed to beat Ferrari, with the Englishman ahead of second-placed Massa by 0.063 seconds. Hamilton and the two Ferraris completed the top three, but Alonso was again down in eighth, having missed nearly the whole of the session with a faulty brake sensor.^[20] The Renaults sparked a return to form with Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella fourth and fifth, both ahead of rivals BMW, who were sixth and fifteenth respectively.^[21]

Qualifying

Both Spykers and both Super Aguris were knocked out of the first phase of qualifying, along with Alexander Wurzs Williams and Vitantonio Liuzzis Toro Rosso. For Super Aguris Takuma Sato, it did not matter where he qualified, as he was docked ten places, due to overtaking Jenson Button under yellow flags at the last Grand Prix.^[22] Spykers Adrian Sutil was hoping for a wet race after an unspectacular qualifying.^[23] At the front end of the grid, the McLarens were first and fourth, with Hamilton on top, and the Ferraris splitting them in third and fourth. Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top five.

David Coulthard failed to complete a single timed lap in the second part of qualifying due to a gearbox problem, and started 16th.^[24] Both Hondas were knocked out also, along with Mark Webber, Scott Speed and Ralf Schumacher. Both Button and Barrichello were happier with the upgraded Honda, with Button saying "the car is certainly better than the last race in Indianapolis, although the positions don't reflect that".^[25] Hamilton was again fastest in Part 2, with team-mate Alonso down in 5th. Massa, Räikkönen and Kubica rounded out the top four.

After topping the first two parts of qualifying, Hamilton dropped to second in the third and final part, with Massa taking pole position, just 0.070 ahead of the Englishman. Massa stated in the post-Qualifying press conference that "it looks like we [Ferrari] are back and fighting",^[26] with Hamilton believing pole was possible had he not made a mistake at Turn 15.^[27] Räikkönen qualified third as he lost time on one corner, which he called "all my fault".^[28] Alonso was unable to complete a single lap in the session due to a gearbox problem. He was classified tenth and stated that he'd "prefer a wet race".^[29] Behind Räikkönen was Kubica in fourth, but despite qualifying fifth, Giancarlo Fisichella believed there was "potential for more" from the Renault.^[30] Fisichella's team-mate Kovalainen was sixth, with Nick Heidfeld seventh. Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg and Alonso rounded out the top ten.^[31] Rosberg also had a slight gearbox problem in the final part of qualifying, which he believed cost him a few tenths coming into the final few corners.^[32]

Race

Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton line up on the front row of the starting grid.

Three people were killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday night. They were Emmanuel Longobardi, a PR operative; the pilot Pierre Bennehard; and Simon MacGill, a New Zealand national. A Bridgestone employee and his niece were injured.^[33][34] Longobardi was a popular member of the Formula One Paddock.^[35]

Adrian Sutil in the Spyker opted to start from the pitlane. Massa got off to the best possible start and retained his lead, but Räikkönen passed Hamilton into Turn One. At the back of the field, Anthony Davidson hit the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso. The Toro Rosso came back onto the track and smashed into the side of the Super Aguri. Liuzzi said afterwards that "all we can do is wait for Silverstone and hope that the definite improvement we have made with the car pays off".^[36] At the Adelaide hairpin, Jarno Trulli rammed into the back of Heikki Kovalainen. Trulli was out, but Kovalainen continued at the back of the field. Trulli apologised to Kovalainen after the race, and declared it "a racing accident".^[37] The tangle promoted Alonso up to 8th.

Robert Kubica was quickly losing ground on the two Ferraris and Hamilton. Alonso passed Rosberg for 7th, and quickly closed in on Heidfeld, but stayed behind him until he pitted on Lap 16. Alonso attempted to get past on Lap 5, but ran wide, giving the position back to the German. Hamilton also pitted on Lap 16, with Massa pitting on Lap 19 and Räikkönen on Lap 21.

Räikkönen decreased Massa's lead back down from 4 seconds to 2 seconds. Alonso passed both Heidfeld and Fisichella in the middle section of the race. In the second round of stops, Räikkönen pitted two laps after Massa. These two laps extra gave Räikkönen the lead after his second stop, with Massa now second. Alonso pitted for the 2nd time on lap 35. Heidfeld and Fisichella pitted several laps later, and both of them got out in front of Alonso. Christijan Albers had an unusual accident, his car left the pit lane with the fuel rig attached without being detached by the pit crews. Eventually, he drove to the side of the track and retired.

Räikkönen won the race from team-mate Massa, with Hamilton third. This marked Ferrari's first one-two of the season. Massa stated that the race win was lost "because of traffic",^[38] while team-mate Räikkönen stated he was "much happier with the car".^[39] Kubica was a lonely fourth, with Fisichella, Heidfeld, Alonso and Button rounding out the points.^[40] Despite it being Button's first points of 2007, he said that he's "not getting too excited about it".^[41] Despite finishing seventh, Alonso was still confident about his title chances saying that he hopes the "two points are important at the end of the season".^[42]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	Name	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3
1	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:15.303	1:14.822	1:15.034
2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:14.805	1:14.795	1:15.104
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:14.872	1:14.828	1:15.257
4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:15.778	1:15.066	1:15.493
5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:16.047	1:15.227	1:15.674
6	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	1:15.524	1:15.272	1:15.826
7	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:15.783	1:15.149	1:15.900
8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:16.118	1:15.379	1:15.935
9	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:16.092	1:15.331	1:16.328
10	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Mercedes	1:15.322	1:15.084	Gearbox
11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:15.760	1:15.534
12	Jenson Button	Honda	1:16.113	1:15.584
13	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:16.140	1:15.761
14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:15.746	1:15.806
15	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:15.980	1:16.049
16	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:15.915	Gearbox
17	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:16.142
18	Alexander Wurz	Williams-Toyota	1:16.241
19	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	1:16.366
20	Christijan Albers	Spyker-Ferrari	1:17.826
21	Adrian Sutil	Spyker-Ferrari	1:17.915
22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	1:16.244

• Takuma Sato demoted to 22nd place due to penalty imposed after US Grand Prix

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	1:30:54.200	3	10
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+2.414	1	8
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+32.153	2	6
4	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	70	+41.727	4	5
5	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	70	+48.801	7	4
6	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	+51.940	5	3
7	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+56.516	10	2
8	7	Jenson Button	Honda	70	+58.885	12	1
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	70	+1:08.505	9
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	69	+1 Lap	11
11	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	69	+1 Lap	13
12	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	69	+1 Lap	14
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	69	+1 Lap	16
14	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams-Toyota	69	+1 Lap	18
15	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	69	+1 Lap	6
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda	68	+2 Laps	22
17	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker-Ferrari	68	+2 Laps	21
Ret	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	Gearbox	15
Ret	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker-Ferrari	28	Refuelling	20
Ret	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda	1	Collision	19
Ret	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1	Collision	8
Ret	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	0	Collision	17

Notes

• Lap Leaders: Felipe Massa 40 (1 – 19, 23 – 43), Kimi Räikkönen 30 (20 – 22, 44 – 70)
• For the United States TV coverage, FOX broadcast this race.
• This was the first time a Finnish driver has won the French Grand Prix.
• This was Jenson Button's first points of 2007.

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Formula1.com page
• Detailed French Grand Prix results