So, F1 moves onto Europe for the second third of the 2007 Formula One Season.

Can the young boy sensation Lewis Hamilton make it a dream hat-trick of wins after his superb showings in Canada and in the US?

Or will his determined team-mate show him who's boss in France this weekend.

Or will the Scuderia come back and take pole and a victory, to get their title hopes back on the road after a trouncing from McLaren?

Well, we'll have to wait and see because the French GP could be a prett crucial race in this championship fight.

_

News:

Kubica expected to race:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39767

Kimi: Ferrari can win:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39759

PS: This thread has been created a little earlier than usual as I won't be here Thursday and Friday.

There's also a poll option aswell.

So, post away guys and girls!

I really think ferrari can make a turn here for the better.
They've proved they are fast, and with all chances of sabotagegone, meaning that dude who got sued.
As for which member will do it for them, is anyones guess. either of The 2 drivers could take as they've both shown the skill to win, and with kimi looking like he could turn things around for himself, who knows what will happen

Well, this is the last race to be hosted at this track as it will move to somewhere near Paris.

Mclaren going strong will end strong, so i think it will be another domination by both Alonso and Hamilton.

BMW is really coming up strong and Ferrari will have a problem if they don't take it up a level.

As it would be interesting if Honda will rise from the dead and finish top 5.
__________________
http://www.mclaren.com/latestnews/portraits/vmm.gif

I'm hoping Alonso & Hamilton have a fight for the 1st coincedently causing both to crash/go off track/do damage and let Massa & Kimi show them how it is done !!

I guess I can dream can't I ???

I'm not sure if Ferrari will play second fiddle to McLaren season long. Something has got to give, and I'm sure the guys down at Maranello are pretty much working day in and day out to close the gap after the introduction of their 'B-spec' car (which has caused them to run into all sorts of problems).

That being said, however, McLaren are probably also working hard to keep their advantage. Like they openly said in the past, there is going to be 'no complacency' in the team at all.

Thinking about this situation, I can't seem to remember a time when Ferrari was in such a clear cut non-winning position. In the modern era, when Ferrari haven't been the dominate car, they've always been either one of two or three that were pretty close in pace (like in 2003, or 2006), or just plain out of the race altogether (2005, with the dreaded F2005 with the mustache wing :D). I guess you'd have to go back to 98 and 99, in McLaren's last major hay-day, to find a situation similar to this one.

Well considering the total lack of news leadiong up to the Frence GP a whole bunch of shockers just came in. Some must read stuff here

Alonso thinks McLaren still have their huge edge
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39785


Renault say they're ahead of BMW now,
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39782


Massa confident with improvements
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39783


Slick Nick believes BMw has fixed Reliability probelms
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39789


Kubica given the go ahead for France
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39776

Renault better than BMW ???? HA HA HA HA HA HA that made me laugh !

I get the feeling that Renault are desperate to get back to winning ways lol and well BMW want some winning ways lol !

I really hope that Ferrari can change their "strugling" ways. I quote strugling because they still finish in the top 4-5 if they avoid problems that are not related to speed ability. I forsee another race where the silver, black, and red get a good result as much as I don't want to say that. Ferrari will of course stick it out and go their hardest but I really think that the season currently is 85% set in terms of who will win the constructor's championship and a little less so in terms of driver's championship. These figures are my own opinion, because I really don't think this season will change in any way barring stunning results and comebacks.

I will wait until practice on Fri and Sat, and then the Q sessions before I make any predictions, but I still think McLaren Mercedes will do very well. All I can say right now it go Ferrari, Aguri, and Spyker.

I want to see how Sato will preform on Sunday
He has to start 10 places back from were ever he qualifies, so unless hes starting lower than 12 hes starting last.
We all know its a brilliant driver, so it should be interesting to see how he preforms

and there we go,
Ferrari have pretty much caught up and flew past McLaren

Practice 1
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39791

Practice 2
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39798

^^ Yes! Thats what i have been wanting to hear for many races. Perhaps after all Ferrari could win this weekends race in France. But at least i'm sure Ferrari would give the Mclarens a good challenge for 1st place. Can't wait for the race...

I also chose Ferrari for the poll, i have a feeling in my gut that this is their lucky race and their chance to catch up in the championship.

i'm on mclarens side but a little ferrari competition will make it a bit more interesting...

Yeah Ferrari look like they are reading from the same chapter as McLaren now about time !

Kimi
Massa
Alonso
Hamilton

^^

Top 4 Prediction quali & race !!!

Practice 2
1. MASSA Ferrari 1m15.453s

2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m15.488s

3. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m15.773s

4. HAMILTON McLaren 1m15.780s

5. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m15.952s

6. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m15.958s

7. ROSBERG Williams 1m16.003s

8. ALONSO McLaren 1m16.049s

9. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1m16.162s

10. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m16.184s

11. FISICHELLA Renault 1m16.205s

12. KUBICA BMW 1m16.236s

13. WURZ Williams 1m16.260s

14. TRULLI Toyota 1m16.285s

15. BUTTON Honda 1m16.395s

16. WEBBER Red Bull 1m16.562s

17. KOVALAINEN Renault 1m16.735s

18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m16.950s

19. HEIDFELD BMW 1m16.968s

20. SATO Super Aguri 1m17.165s

21. SUTIL Spyker 1m18.213s

22. ALBERS Spyker 1m18.708s

What did everyone think of Torro Rosso
3rd and 5th
thats an unreal improvement

I think Ferrari is due to rebound after lackluster races.

Did I see a Toro Rosso in third ??? Bravo Toro Rosso Bravo !!!

I don't know why, but i've always wanted STR to do well. If you watch a GP, there usually a little battle at the back between the slower teams, like Honda, STR, Super Aguri and Spyker, and i've always wanted Torro to win, mainly because of Scott Speed being such a great driver.

But after this,and on Sunday i really hope that Scot gets some big well deserved points

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, I'm still betting on Mclaren FTW. At the start of the season we saw how unnerving hamilton is when being chased. I reckon he'll be the same being the chaser. He showed some simply spectacular moves in GP2, and I reckon he'll go for it. Qualifying will be interesting tomorrow though. Time UK anyone ?

OK I will come and improve on my thoughts and predictions tomorrow after a good nights sleep because I've basically cycled 90 miles up a hill with a backpack on and I cannot move.

So......I think Ferrari are back. I think all along that they knew they were going to be quick here, and ladies and gentlemen, don't be surprised if they take a 1-2 finish here because I can really see their car coming along. Race wins, right back into the frame, but getting back all of their championships and getting to win them will be a struggle. If Hamilton keeps his brilliant consistency up then we will certainly have a championship on our hands. Whether this Ferrari revival is a one off; or that their car just suits the Magny-Cours circuit, we do not know yet. But if they take a win here they could be right back on track.

But let's not count out McLaren, when Ferrari were leading all weekend in Malaysia and McLaren came back with a 1-2; the same could definitely happen here, so don't count them out.

Some brief summaries:

Renault ahead of BMW? Pah.

P1 and P2, well done for the STRs, that's quite simply brilliant, not bad for the Hondas.

And go tomorrow for the Q..if I can get up in time. :p

@Sonic, thank you for posting up news.

Wowie! Thats the only word I could think of after looking at the practice charts. All right Ferrari, finally doing something to get me, a fan, excited for the race. I really want them to win it because the season is getting boring with McLaren dominating, and of course I am madly in love with those guys from Maranello.

Seeing the STR guys up there is good to see, and my gosh Scott must have heard me because he is performing like superman now, I guess he finally decided to drink some of the team's product. This speed shouldn't be that surprising considering that the team uses Ferari engines, so technically Ferrari is holding 4 out of the top 5 positions in practice.

But practice is still practice, if Monaco was decided by just practice we would have seen Spyker with a break through win, but we did not, we saw a McLaren snooze fest. So while this is a great light in a season that has been rather dark, I won't be making bets just yet.

Finally to tell you the truth, I want Lewis to get podiums in every race this year, and win the championship. Although I dislike McLaren I really like his driving style and personality, so if Ferrari does make me happy and sweep the weekend, I'd like Lewis to be there in 3rd.

Sinco no ones seemed to have noticed
Vetel is set to race for BMW again, but not for Kubica, but Heidfeild.
Hes got back probelms and looks like he won't race today and tommorrow
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39801


Plus, it seems that McLaren don't feel worried about Ferrari
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39804

But Ferrari feel the opposite
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39808

So who is lying really.
1 hour to go

EDIT: Renault feels they can beat BMW, but not today
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39813

Vetel is set to race for BMW again, but not for Kubica, but Heidfeild.
Hes got back probelms and looks like he won't race today and tommorrow
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39801

Actually...
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/06/30/heidfeld_able_to_continue_gp_weekend/

^^ahh, thanks
damn i wanted to see Vetal race again. To bad

I think that in 30 min the qualifying will start. I want to see what will happened.
Heidfeld will race. This is good. C'mon BMW.

You losers, mufhahahaha
Massa comes first. Brilliant.
1. Massa 1:15.034

Here are the Qualifying results for the 2007 French GP:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/3386/untitlediz9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Woohoo! Ferrari are back in action with Massa 1st and Kimi 3rd! As for Mclaren, they are still performing well since Hamilton qualified 2nd but Alonso qualified 10th with no time so it seems Ferrari have the edge over the Mclarens in this race. Can't wait....

Gongrats to Massa for winning the position No1.
From behind and in position No2 is Hamilton.
In position No3 is Kimi. Good race for Kimi.

Sorry about the second results. GT King post them faster. Sorry GT King.

A rather good qualifying session, I do think. It's good to see Ferrari back in the frame because I really don't like one sided world championships, they seem boring, that's why I loved 2006 so much.

Congratulations to Massa for taking the pole with a really stunning lap, although Lewis has said he could have taken pole but for a tiny mistake at Turn 13.

I think Raikkonen is carrying a little bit more fuel than the guys ahead of him, but he has to make a good start otherwise it will be tough for him to win the race from there.

Raikkonen has impressed me today. He's actually driving as if he wants to win races, and not just driving because he has to. I think he wants to win the championship this year, and same goes to Felipe.

I think it's shaping up to be a great race tomorrow, because we really don't know who will win. I voted McLaren in the poll, but with Alonso dropping down to 10th, it will be tough for him to get onto the podium from there.

I always seeem to jinx myself and other things though; I mean just last night I was thinking about how nothing goes wrong with McLaren's cars...

But, I do think Ferrari will be fighting hard, because they haven't won a title in 2 years, which is a long time for them.

Hopefully Honda can get points aswell.

Bring on tomorrow because I really can't wait.

_

Qualifying report:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39817

I think(and hope :p) that there is more then just gearbox problems for Alonso. There was smoke coming out of the car that looked alot like an engine failure.
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Alonso on p20 tomorrow because of an engine switch.

^^well McLaren said it was just a gearbox probelm.
Weither thats true or not, we'll find out soon

Alot of failures are being thrown into the big vague hydraulic and gearbox problem group.

I doubt McLaren have had enough time to look into the engine, release a statement and for that statement to have been put onto the internet by now. We'll find out by tonight if Alonso needs an engine change. Don't rule it out though, because as CarRocker said, there was smoke coming from the back of the car.

Wowie! #2. Great effort by Massa to get it done and Kimi, finally you have seen the good side. Good for Hamilton to continue his phenomena season and wooohooo for Alonso sucking it. Anyway considering how wonderfully Hamilton can start, I would not be surprised to see him in P1 by the end of the turn 1 complex. If you looked closely, this qualifying session looked much more "normal" in terms of past F1 time trials. Spyker and Aguri with the Red Bulls at the bottom, while Mcalren, Ferrari, and Renault close to the front. Weird stuff at least to me.

Hope it will be a good race and that Ferrari can get a 1-2 finish with Hamilton ending up in 3rd. I doubt BMW will pressure for the win, and Alonso will surely try his hardest, but with his mistake ridden season, I don't think he can win, or for that fact get a podium.

My bold prediction for this weekend:

The factory Honda team will score a championship point or two with one of their cars.

I'm hoping Alonso's Engine/gearbox/electrics or whatever it was is the start of McLarens unlucy streak because I wanna see Ferrari 1-2's every weekend with Hamilton truly showing he isn't as good as he is portrayed as goes for Alonso and BMW getting on the podium wouldn't be bad would it ???

My prediction on the race:

Massa, Kimi, Kubica (:D) = podium

I think that right now Honda desevre a point or 2. They've tried and pushed so hard that they should get points just for that. Then we can laugh at spyker for being the only team without points, lol. Cause STR are getting points tommorrow to.

Anyway my prediction is the top to remain the same.
Also if you look back scott speed has been notourious for moving up alot of places fast, so a 10th or 9th is a fair bet for him, then he can get some points.

As for BMW vs Renault, its anyones guess.
I don't believe this is Hondas race, but hopefully next time

As for alonso, maybe around 7th, as its going to be hard to break through the BMW vs Renault battle. doubt he will be happy
*dramatic reconstruction*
http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/43330_1.jpg

Boo Hoo Hamilton wasn't first or second its ashame (in sarcastic voice) !

Good race for Kimi, Massa did good aswell hopefully this is the start of a Ferrari surge on McLaren ! Kubica deserved third but Hamilton got in (BOOO)

Now do people agree with me that it is the car rather than the driver because surely if Hamilton was soo good he would have been first ???

Ferrari are now back in the game !!!!!!

Hamiliton is a great driver wether you like it or not, how else could he out qualify the double world champion in so many other races.

But go, Kimi, what a race. Unfortunate of massa getting caught in traffic and letting Kimi on front of him. Damn. I wish he won it.

Though i was right about Alonso, it was to hard to push through the BMWs and renaults. Not his race today.
But a huge lump of bad luch for Kovaleinen. If it wasn't for truli he could of easily scored some points.
Williams seem to be moving slowly back down the back, but great stuff from rosberg at the start holding off Alonso.
Plus the BMW boys both had great races, Hiedfeild moving up to 5th.

But button, what a race, all the way up to his first point, and it wasn't some easy point due breakdowns, he earned that fair and square, and hes proved that Honda are moving forwards. So hopefully now they know their weakness, they can get more points next week.

Here are the race results:

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/9535/untitledxk0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The race was awesome. It's nice to see Ferrari back in action, it's the first Ferrari 1-2 of the year. Kimi had a great race today, it was his first win since the Australian GP. Everything went well for him. Well Massa did get caught up in traffic which led him to be overtaken by Kimi but it was a great battle between them 2.

It's also nice to see Button getting his first point, he deserved it. Also the BMW boys did a great job today coming 4th and 5th earning them a well deserved 9 points...

Also did anybody see the incident in the Spyker pit stop where Christijan Albers drove off too early in his pit stop and the fuel hose went with the car? That was a rare sight, it was unexpected too...

Now do people agree with me that it is the car rather than the driver because surely if Hamilton was soo good he would have been first ???

I'm getting real tiresome of your illogical arguements against Hamilton. Are we going to have to put up with this every single race?

We know you don't think he's as good as everyone else seems to think so, but you've repeated yourself so many times, and I think we could all do without it. I could argue it, but I don't want this thread, or any other sequential threads filled with the same thing over and over again.

ANYWAY, Button got a point! HOORAY! Pity he got it from Nico, but heck, at least it's some justification for the amount of work the team has undoubtedly done over the passed 3 months.

On Williams, well, I was happy at the start, when Rosberg was only slowly losing the Heidfeld-Alonso battle, but unfortunetely he got done throughout the race. Wurz was caught up in that whole midfield battle, so he had a bad one as well. We were, plain and simply, right off the pace, which is REAL worrying.

I'm getting real tiresome of your illogical arguements against Hamilton. Are we going to have to put up with this every single race?

We know you don't think he's as good as everyone else seems to think so, but you've repeated yourself so many times, and I think we could all do without it. I could argue it, but I don't want this thread, or any other sequential threads filled with the same thing over and over again.

ANYWAY, Button got a point! HOORAY! Pity he got it from Nico, but heck, at least it's some justification for the amount of work the team has undoubtedly done over the passed 3 months.

On Williams, well, I was happy at the start, when Rosberg was only slowly losing the Heidfeld-Alonso battle, but unfortunetely he got done throughout the race. Wurz was caught up in that whole midfield battle, so he had a bad one as well. We were, plain and simply, right off the pace, which is REAL worrying.

I should not have put that in my post I was just happy Ferrari got a 1-2 and McLaren were on the backfoot and not the other way round lol !

Overall it was a good race Button did good 1 point but its a start for Honda, I think they should now concentrate on next season more than this season because its a gone conclusion that they are not going to get any major points now IMO !

Wowie #3! Way to go Ferrari, just what I was hoping for, and Lewis even got third, which is great. Well, what did I tell you, factory Honda does get that point I predicted yesterday. Anyway will have my usual race analysis/response soon, but I am too tired right now.

I should not have put that in my post I was just happy Ferrari got a 1-2 and McLaren were on the backfoot and not the other way round lol !

Overall it was a good race Button did good 1 point but its a start for Honda, I think they should now concentrate on next season more than this season because its a gone conclusion that they are not going to get any major points now IMO !
And every other race, Mclaren was ahead. :D
__________________
http://www.mclaren.com/latestnews/portraits/vmm.gif

^not for long.
Sliverstone should be fun.
I just want to point out that Hamilitions lap, where he said he made a mistake and could of went faster and won pole. The mistake was a lock up through a hairpin, where massa also made that exact same mistake, only he had a bigger lock up yet went faster. Just shows ferrari are now faster. Plus Sliverstone is a track better suited for ferrari to.

sadly i'm in france next week, so hopefully theres some frence Pub showing it.
Or does anyone have the time and channel the Frence TV show it on.

sadly i'm in france next week, so hopefully theres some frence Pub showing it.
Or does anyone have the time and channel the Frence TV show it on.

You won't find many of those down here lol! But I'm guessing most bars will be showing it, or watch it in your hotel on TF1.


Well not such an interesting race, but what I got out of it:
- Honda and especially Button are on the right track
- I'm really starting to dislike the Toyotas. They're rubbish, they have the biggest budget yet can't achieve anything. Ralf is a horrible little man, no way does he still deserves to be driving. Hope he gets kicked out very soon. Trulli's driving was unfair and I didn't appreciate him spoiling what would have been a good race for Kovaleinen.

I'm very happy for the 1-2 from Ferrari! Hopefully they can pull through.

I was really enjoying the fight between Heidfeld and Alonso. Heidfeld showed that he is a great racer. The Mclaren was obviously faster, but Alonso had to make that great move on him in that chicane else he would have been still behind him. Really awesome racing from both!

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the horrible stupid mistake from Albers. He's the fool of the country now. Everybody here wants to kick his butt out of that car.

I'm very happy for the 1-2 from Ferrari! Hopefully they can pull through.

I was really enjoying the fight between Heidfeld and Alonso. Heidfeld showed that he is a great racer. The Mclaren was obviously faster, but Alonso had to make that great move on him in that chicane else he would have been still behind him. Really awesome racing from both!

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the horrible stupid mistake from Albers. He's the fool of the country now. Everybody here wants to kick his butt out of that car.

No what did he do ??? It couldn't have been that bad because ITV didn't show it lol !

It happened during his pitstop. The tyres were done, the lollypop man turned around the lollipop and was waiting for the guy refueling to be finished. But instead, Albers just drove off, with the fuel hose still in the car...

^^

Oh they did mention that now that I remember lol ! Stupid Albers !!!!!

My bold prediction for this weekend:

The factory Honda team will score a championship point or two with one of their cars.

You seem to be awfully good at predicting stuff.

As for alonso, maybe around 7th

And you! :p

Here are the race results:



The race was awesome. It's nice to see Ferrari back in action, it's the first Ferrari 1-2 of the year. Kimi had a great race today, it was his first win since the Australian GP. Everything went well for him. Well Massa did get caught up in traffic which led him to be overtaken by Kimi but it was a great battle between them 2.

It's also nice to see Button getting his first point, he deserved it. Also the BMW boys did a great job today coming 4th and 5th earning them a well deserved 9 points...

Also did anybody see the incident in the Spyker pit stop where Christijan Albers drove off too early in his pit stop and the fuel hose went with the car? That was a rare sight, it was unexpected too...

Thanks for posting the results up.

And yes, I did see that incident, very strange indeed. Over the last few months there have been a few incidents involving lollipop men letting their drivers out of the blocks too early, like today, Heidfeld in Spain and stuff like that.

Overall it was a good race Button did good 1 point but its a start for Honda, I think they should now concentrate on next season more than this season because its a gone conclusion that they are not going to get any major points now IMO !

You know, I do agree. I mean, I'm not saying that Honda should just give up on their 2007 season because going into 2008 with no momentum or confidence will not do them any favours in 2008. The car is developing well, has loads of new parts coming onto it, which means that they are going to get more points, which means more money for the team for development or their [presumably named] RA108 chassis.

I am prepared to wait a little longer for Button and Honda to get their car competitive because I know Honda have the potential to win world championships and I sure as hell know that Button can get the job done.

The other day I was browsing through YouTube and I found Hungary 2006 videos, and I just remembered the sense of pride and satisfaction I felt for Button the moment he crossed the finish line, and it made me feel good, it made me buzz, made me feel part of something special.

I really hope Honda can re-kindle that feeling in 2008 because I'm sure I won't be the only one jumping for joy and going out and buying all the Honda merchandise I can find and kissing the bonnet of my mum's Civic.

^not for long.
Sliverstone should be fun.
I just want to point out that Hamilitions lap, where he said he made a mistake and could of went faster and won pole. The mistake was a lock up through a hairpin, where massa also made that exact same mistake, only he had a bigger lock up yet went faster. Just shows ferrari are now faster. Plus Sliverstone is a track better suited for ferrari to.

I assume that hairpin was the 180 hairpin. There's two lines you can take through there, one of them makes you faster on the corner, one gives you better accleration out of it. With perfectly clean laps from Hamilton and Massa, I reckon it would have been incredibly close for the pole position, BUT that said, if Kimi had a clean lap he would have got the pole anyway.

Well not such an interesting race, but what I got out of it:
- Honda and especially Button are on the right track
- I'm really starting to dislike the Toyotas. They're rubbish, they have the biggest budget yet can't achieve anything. Ralf is a horrible little man, no way does he still deserves to be driving. Hope he gets kicked out very soon. Trulli's driving was unfair and I didn't appreciate him spoiling what would have been a good race for Kovaleinen.

Yeah, I'm with you on Toyota. It's really beyond me how they spend millions and millions of dollars every year and what, their best result is a 4th or 5th, and in 2005, podiums? With the amount of money they're spending they should be at least winning races, but lets face it their personnel aren't the best, and nor are their drivers.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the horrible stupid mistake from Albers. He's the fool of the country now. Everybody here wants to kick his butt out of that car.

Lol, that bit made me laugh: :p

_

My input:


Ferrari are back. [for the tme being.]

It could be that the car is suited to the smoothness and the flowingness of Magny-Cours, or that their car was genuinely fast yesterday, and I believe it to be a bit of both.

They have new fins by the nosecone which helps the aerodynamics of the car, thus making them faster.

But, speed or not, what a mature and disciplined race by both drivers. None of them made any mistakes, and although I was surprised to see Raikkonen take the race win, he did drive superbly and so did Massa.

I kinda feel for Massa right now, I mean, how gutted must he be feeling right now, he must feel robbed because he drove great and deserved a win, but traffic made Raikkonen go ahead, but respect to Raikkonen for driving a good race, and if Ferrari are on the pace in Silverstone (which I think they will be), then Raikkonen's in contention for another win aswell.

McLaren were still fast yesterday, but not as fast as the Ferraris. McLaren made two mistakes, which were putting Alonso onto the softer (or was it medium?) tyres at the first stint and putting Hamilton on a three stopper whilst everyone else was doing a 2-stopper. If Hamilton was on a 2-stopper it would have put him into contention for 2nd place, I reckon.

But, I think Alonso should put Sunday at the back of his mind and concentrate on Silverstone, which is a track he's always done well on.

BMW were also very impressive, and so were the Renaults, but unlucky for Kovalainen, by being shunted into a spin at the first corner which basically ruined his whole race which must have been really annoying for him and the team.

Honda, what a brilliant race for them, thoroughly enjoyable to watch. Their race pace was great, Button was lapping at some points nearly as fast as the leaders which is really incredible, and he got his really, really well deserved 1 point at the end, which must have felt like 100 points for Button because it really paid off, I'm really proud for them.

It really shows that their car is improving and it's got faster. If they can get quali sorted out then they can look forward to getting more points throughout the season because their race pace is quick enough to vault them up a few more places into a solid run of points. Barrichello was a little slower today, but still he made progress.

Williams weren't as fast as Honda, Nico finishing in 9th and Wurz down into the end of the midfield.

RB and STR didn't have that good a race either, which was unlucky for them, and Spyker were unimpressive, but a good drive from Sutil nonethless.

_

I'm really looking forward to Silverstone, which I think will be a pivotal race. If McLaren get a win, I think they will win the title. If Ferrari win, then it's still [slightly] open.

McLarens time is over lol !!!

Ferrari are on the attck and epescially if Kimi gets his act together I can see Hamilton & Alonso crying because they were so close yet so far lol ! Look back into last season you see that Ferrari made a comeback around this time last year so Deja vu would be good :D !

Kimi for title (I have said that for god knows how many years but I still hope lol ) !!!!!!!!

^I guess we'll end up seeing the results of that next week. Silverstone is a very important race. Whichever team wins that, I think will win the title, but that's just my prediction.

But nobody's gonna give up without a fight, both teams will be fighting to the end.

But I'm with you, a fightback and the title going to the last race like last season would be immense.

McLaren were still fast yesterday, but not as fast as the Ferraris. McLaren made two mistakes, which were putting Alonso onto the softer (or was it medium?) tyres at the first stint and putting Hamilton on a three stopper whilst everyone else was doing a 2-stopper. If Hamilton was on a 2-stopper it would have put him into contention for 2nd place, I reckon.

I think Hamilton was on a 2 stopper, but they changed the strategy in a 3 stopper to try something to pass the Ferrari's. Just like Schumacher went from a 3 to a 4 stopper a few years back on Magny Cours.

At Magny Cours, nobody could beat the scuderia.

^Oh, I didn't know that. But surely McLaren knew that a 3-stopper would ultimately lose them around 20s more than a 2-stopper? I am guessing he wasn't fuelled up enough for a 2-stopper at the start of the race.

Well they were in a tight position as it was already. At the time of the switch, the Ferraris had just cleared the big pack of midfield cars that were battling it out, and when Lewis came up to them, the team decided to short fuel him, put him on the softer rubber, ans hope to dear God that he would be quick enough to catch them.

Alas, he wasn't, but I don't think Lewis had the pace to catch them anyway.

^I see now and yeah, the Ferraris were just the quickest out of the lot over the weekend.

French GP race report:
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39845

"I'm getting real tiresome of your illogical arguements against Hamilton. Are we going to have to put up with this every single race?"

No more tiresome than blind hero worship of a calm, talented driver in the best car so far this season. Put Hamilton in an STR and get points/podium and I will bow towards London with the masses.

Did anyone listen to the post-race interview? Hamilton said that unless you were 1 sec/lap faster; it was very difficult to pass unless another driver made a mistake.

-----

Magny-Cours is a twisty track. Silverstone is the fastest existing road course on the planet. I predict McLaren will smoke 'em again.

No more tiresome than blind hero worship of a calm, talented driver in the best car so far this season. Put Hamilton in an STR and get points/podium and I will bow towards London with the masses.

Blind hero worship? From who? Me?

Magny-Cours is a twisty track. Silverstone is the fastest existing road course on the planet.
After Monza

After Monza

Suzuka ? We are heading there this year.

EDIT: I meant Fuji speedway, and I'm wrong lol.