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Ferrari land one-two punch
Monday 23 June 2008
Ferrari took the spoils at Magny-Cours with an emphatic one-two that put Felipe Massa at the top of the Drivers’ Championship and solidified Ferrari’s place atop the Constructors’ rankings.
Kimi Räikkönen's second place had a little luck involved, as exhaust trouble threatened to force him out before the finish - but then again, having cost him the lead he could also claim to have been unlucky.
Lewis Hamilton found himself on the wrong side of the officials once more, earning a drive-through penalty for an opening lap passing move and finishing out of the points in 10th place, leaving his championship challenge stalled on 38 points.
Perhaps the most delighted team (after Ferrari at least) was Toyota, who earned their first podium finish since 2006 when Jarno Trulli (pictured) came in third.
"What a great result and a great weekend by the whole team," said an elated Trulli afterwards. "Today was a great race, hard and tough. We had a good pace, even if we had to battle with some cars that were quicker than us. I had to fight really hard but that is what people should expect both from myself and from Toyota.
"When the rain came at the end I had to take care because it's always difficult to judge how bad it is when you're in front. But I got back into a rhythm and had a wheel-to-wheel fight with Heikki, just like in go-karts.
"The team made no mistakes this weekend, from the people in the factory who made the new parts on the car to the mechanics who did perfect pit stops today. There's still more to do but today we can be very satisfied."
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who went into the race at the head of the Drivers' Championship, had to be content with fifth place, but his four-point tally keeps him hot on the heels of Massa.
"We didn't score as many points as we wanted to here in Magny-Cours," Kubica admitted after the race. "Over the whole weekend we tried to minimize the problems we had, and we knew the race would be decided on the first lap. At the start I tried to overtake Jarno Trulli, but did not manage it. I tried again in turn five on the outside, but it did not work out.
"In the end I have to say I am pretty happy. I finished fifth, only two seconds away from the podium. We now have to analyse what happened here and see how we can improve for the next race."
(Photo © Toyota Motorsport GmbH)
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