Learn Chinese - Raikkonen wins as Ferrari dominate in French GP

Sports / Motor Racing

Raikkonen wins as Ferrari dominate in French GP

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-07-02 08:32

Kimi Raikkonen led Ferrari to a one-two finish and back into the battle
for this year's Formula One world championship on Sunday when he won the
French Grand Prix in emphatic style.

The 27-year-old Finn came home ahead of his team-mate Brazilian Felipe
Massa, 25, as the Italian team delivered their first one-two of the
season and the first in 14 races since last year's German Grand Prix.

The result prompted Raikkonen to predict a Ferrari revival after a period
in the doldrums and he said they would now be a force in the championship.

But 22-year-old British rookie Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the
drivers' championship from 10 points to 14 by coming home third for
McLaren Mercedes-Benz.

And afterwards, Hamilton, like Raikkonen, predicted that he could win the
next race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next Sunday.

"I am sure we can bounce back and win again," he said. "The gap today was
not what it looked."

To the delight of Italian fans, who feared that Ferrari were falling away
this season and that Raikkonen, signed from McLaren last winter, could
not deliver his best form for Ferrari, the Finn was back to his fastest
as he claimed his second win of the season.

"That felt much better," he said. "We have had some tough times but we
have to go through that sometimes. It's been hard, but we have worked
hard and the car was much better for us here today.

"We are going to have a lot more new parts next week and I am sure we can
now maintain this form. We can win again, I am sure of that, and we
usually go very well at Silverstone."

Pole sitter Massa blamed the failure of other drivers to move aside
during his second stint between the pit-stops for his disappointment in
not winning despite leading from the start for more than half of the
70-laps race.

"I was 4.8 seconds ahead after the first stint and would have won if it
was not for the traffic problems I had with other cars.

"It ruined my chances of winning, but it is great for the team, this
result, and now we can go on and try to beat McLaren again."

Hamilton said: "If you had said to me at any time that I would be heading
towards my home race as the world championship leader, I would not have
believed you. To be in this position in the team I always dreamed of
racing for is just so special for me.

"I did not expect to finish on the podium in my first race let alone
being on the podium for all of the first eight! And, yes, it is a new
experience for me to be overtaken - for the first time this season - in
Formula One, but I know that it happens. Kimi just had a much better
start than me. His was exceptional and I don't really know what happened
to mine."

Finn Raikkonen came home two seconds ahead of Massa as the Italian team
ended rivals McLaren's three race sequence of victories. The result
confirmed that McLaren may not have it all their own way in this year's
championship.

It was Raikkonen's first win since the season-opening Australian race in
Melbourne on March 18, his second of the season and the 11th of his
career and a memorable way of saying 'adieu' to the remote Magny-Cours
circuit, hosting the French race for the final time.

It meant also that after eight races this year four drivers have shared
the victories with two apiece and, for Raikkonen, it was a powerful
response to doubters who have suggested he lacked the discipline and
resolve to become a successful Ferrari driver after his move from McLaren.

Massa, who led for more than half of the race, finished second ahead of
22-year-old Hamilton.

His McLaren team-mate and chief rival defending double drivers' champion
Fernando Alonso of Spain, who started from 10th position on the grid, was
unable to fight his way through the field and finished seventh.

Hamilton had won the two previous races in Canada and the United States
and he was seeking a hat-trick, but despite his disappointment he stayed
ahead in the title race with 64 points to Alonso's 50. The other double
winners this year are Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa.

Poland's Robert Kubica finished fourth for BMW Sauber, after driving a
solid race on his return to action following his high-speed crash in
Canada three weeks ago.

His BMW team-mate German Nick Heidfeld was fifth ahead of Italian
Giancarlo Fisichella in a Renault, Alonso, who was seventh, and Briton
Jenson Button, who claimed his and his Honda team's first point of the
year in eighth place.

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