Team by team analysis of Sunday's French Formula One Grand Prix (teams listed
in championship order):
MCLAREN(Lewis Hamilton 3,Fernando Alonso 7) Hamilton failed to make it three wins in a row but still took his eighth successive podium finish to go 14 points clear in the championship. Alonso had a lively race, fighting back from 10th at the start. He remains second overall. FERRARI (Kimi Raikkonen 1, Felipe Massa 2) Raikkonen's second win of the season, 11th of his career, and Ferrari's first one-two finish since Germany last July. Team boss Jean Todt celebrated 14 years at the helm. BMW SAUBER (Robert Kubica 4, Nick Heidfeld 5) BMW's highest scoring race of the season so far, with Kubica returning impressively after his big crash in Canada. Heidfeld has now scored two points more than in the whole of his best season in Formula One (2005). RENAULT (Giancarlo Fisichella 6, Heikki Kovalainen 15) After the team's best qualifying performance of the season, a frustrating afternoon for the champions. Kovalainen's race effectively ended when Toyota's Trulli drove into him on the first lap. Fisichella struggled with a heavy car after his first pitstop. WILLIAMS (Nico Rosberg 9, Alex Wurz 14) Rosberg qualified ninth and held position. Wurz gained four places. TOYOTA (Ralf Schumacher 10, Jarno Trulli retired) Schumacher celebrated his 32nd birthday on Saturday but was gifted no points. Trulli retired with suspension failure after the first lap accident. RED BULL (Mark Webber 12, David Coulthard 13) Red Bull's least competitive race so far, but at least both cars got to the finish. SUPER AGURI (Takuma Sato 16, Anthony Davidson retired) Sato lost time in the first pitstop with a fuel rig problem. Davidson retired after a first lap collision with Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi. HONDA (Jenson Button 8, Rubens Barrichello 11) Button scored Honda's first point of the season, making up three places on the opening lap and getting past Rosberg at his second stop. TORO ROSSO (Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi retired) Speed retired with suspected gearbox failure. Liuzzi collided with Davidson's Super Aguri at the start. SPYKER (Adrian Sutil 17, Christijan Albers retired) Sutil started in the spare car after an electrical problem on the grid and finished two laps behind the winner. He also collected a drive-through penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. Albers retired with a fuel hose still attached to his car after he exited the pits too early. (Reuters)
MCLAREN(Lewis Hamilton 3,Fernando Alonso 7) Hamilton failed to make it three wins in a row but still took his eighth successive podium finish to go 14 points clear in the championship. Alonso had a lively race, fighting back from 10th at the start. He remains second overall. FERRARI (Kimi Raikkonen 1, Felipe Massa 2) Raikkonen's second win of the season, 11th of his career, and Ferrari's first one-two finish since Germany last July. Team boss Jean Todt celebrated 14 years at the helm. BMW SAUBER (Robert Kubica 4, Nick Heidfeld 5) BMW's highest scoring race of the season so far, with Kubica returning impressively after his big crash in Canada. Heidfeld has now scored two points more than in the whole of his best season in Formula One (2005). RENAULT (Giancarlo Fisichella 6, Heikki Kovalainen 15) After the team's best qualifying performance of the season, a frustrating afternoon for the champions. Kovalainen's race effectively ended when Toyota's Trulli drove into him on the first lap. Fisichella struggled with a heavy car after his first pitstop. WILLIAMS (Nico Rosberg 9, Alex Wurz 14) Rosberg qualified ninth and held position. Wurz gained four places. TOYOTA (Ralf Schumacher 10, Jarno Trulli retired) Schumacher celebrated his 32nd birthday on Saturday but was gifted no points. Trulli retired with suspension failure after the first lap accident. RED BULL (Mark Webber 12, David Coulthard 13) Red Bull's least competitive race so far, but at least both cars got to the finish. SUPER AGURI (Takuma Sato 16, Anthony Davidson retired) Sato lost time in the first pitstop with a fuel rig problem. Davidson retired after a first lap collision with Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi. HONDA (Jenson Button 8, Rubens Barrichello 11) Button scored Honda's first point of the season, making up three places on the opening lap and getting past Rosberg at his second stop. TORO ROSSO (Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi retired) Speed retired with suspected gearbox failure. Liuzzi collided with Davidson's Super Aguri at the start. SPYKER (Adrian Sutil 17, Christijan Albers retired) Sutil started in the spare car after an electrical problem on the grid and finished two laps behind the winner. He also collected a drive-through penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. Albers retired with a fuel hose still attached to his car after he exited the pits too early. (Reuters)