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Massa captures Grand Prix of France

Sun 22nd, June 2008

Magny Cours, France (Sports Network) - Brazilian Felipe Massa took advantage of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen's broken exhaust to capture Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix of France. Raikkonen held onto the second spot and crossed the finish line 17.984 seconds behind to give team Ferrari a one-two finish.

The victory was Massa's third of the season and eighth of his F1 career.

Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica completed the top-five. Trulli notched Toyota's first podium finish since 2005 in Spain.

"We needed a little bit of luck today. We had a little bit of luck due to what happened to Kimi," said Massa. "I think we are heading in the right direction."

Massa held a 14-second margin over Raikkonen with 15 laps to go, after the final stops were complete for the leaders. Trulli, Kovalainen and Kubica rounded out the top-five at the time.

Raikkonen could only hope for an error by Massa at this point. Massa stayed mistake free and made it clear he was going to take home the victory.

The battle between Trulli and Kovalainen for third was the only drama that occurred in the final laps. Kovalainen almost got past Trulli on the final lap, but his attempt failed.

Massa cruised past the finish line well ahead of his teammate.

After dominating qualifying on Saturday, Raikkonen built a two-second margin over Massa after five laps. Fernando Alonso, Trulli and Kubica battled behind the Ferrari drivers.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty on lap 14 for gaining an advantage early in the race when he cut the chicane in an effort to pass Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton found himself in 13th after the penalty and finished 10th. The No.22 McLaren Mercedes was already fighting a 10-place penalty from his incident in Canada.

Finland's Raikkonen pulled away to a five-second lead by lap 16, as Alonso came into the pits to start a cycle of green flag stops.

Raikkonen led Massa, Trulli, Vettel and Kubica after 27 laps. Vettel and Nick Heidfeld came down pit road on lap 30 for their first stop. Thus, Kubica and Alonso inherited the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

With a six-second lead, Raikkonen slowed down considerably by the halfway point as Massa started to quickly cut into the margin. The gap was down to 1.7 seconds just two laps later when it was reported Raikkonen had a broken exhaust. He let a faster Massa pass him for the lead on lap 39, and Raikkonen was able to keep a reasonable pace to keep second.

Alonso made his second stop of the day on lap 43 and started the final cycle of pit stops for the leaders.

Raikkonen's broken exhaust may have cost him the win, but it could have been a lot worse.

"I was lucky to finish the race and get the eight points," said a disappointed Raikkonen, who dominated early in the race. "The last couple laps the car almost stopped a few times."

Massa moved into first in the driver standings with 48 points. Kubica dropped to second, two points behind Massa, with his fifth-place finish.

The next race in the series is set for Sunday, July 6th at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.

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