Ferrari bounce back with one-two from Raikkonen, Massa

By Elmar Dreher Jul 1, 2007, 18:29 GMT

Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari steers his race car at the Magny Cours race track near Nevers in France, 01 July 2007. Raikkonen won the race ahead of team mate Massa and Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN

Magny-Cours, France - Ferrari ended a recent Formula One drought in style on Sunday with their first one-two finish of the season, from Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa at the French Grand Prix.

Starting from third place on the grid, Raikkonen beat championship leader Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren-Mercedes into the first corner and then got past the long-time leader Massa through a quick second pit stop.

'Finally the start worked for me. That helped a lot. The car was good all the time but not exactly perfect. It worked out in the end and I couldn't ask for more,' said the Finn.

Victory was sweet for Ferrari, who had won three of the first four races but then had to bow to McLaren in the last three - with world champion Fernando Alonso winning in Monte Carlo and the rookie sensation Hamilton in the US and Canada.

Raikkonen silenced the critics with his second season win and 11th overall at last after dominating the opening race in Australia. Ferrari got their first one-two finish in 2007.

'We had a bit of a hard time. We just worked hard to get it right. I am much happier with the car now,' said Raikkonen.

Massa lamented traffic ahead of his second stop which denied him keeping first place from pole: 'I am so disappointed with the traffic. I lost so much time. Unfortunately I lost the victory because of that.'

Both top teams have four wins (two each from Hamilton, champion Fernando Alonso who had to settle for seventh Sunday after managing only 10th on the grid due to gearbox problems, Massa and Raikkonen), promising plenty of further excitement.

Hamilton kept his perfect record of making the podium in each race and handily leads the drivers standings with 64 points from eight of 17 events from Alonso (50), Massa (47) and Raikkonen (42) into his British home Grand Prix next Sunday in Silverstone.

'I didn't get off to the best start. I don't know what happened, Kimi just came flying past,' said Hamilton.

'But I got good points for the championship, we must keep pushing. I am looking forward to Silverstone. It is my home race, it's ane extra buzz.'

With six of the seven previous season races going to the pole position holder and Massa beaten into the first turn by Alonso in Malaysia, the start was likely to determine the outcome again.

Massa delivered like in his wins in Bahrain and Spain, roaring off at the green light. Hamilton never came close to mount a challenge from second place and was even ambushed by Raikkonen, who stormed from third to second into the first corner.

Raikkonen's move proved decisive for the outcome later on, in combination with Ferrari's pit order in which Massa was to refuel first.

The Finn gained the crucial seconds in a light car in the three laps he came in later than Massa to refuel a second time, and drove out of the pits with a comfortable advantage for the final 24 laps.

He won the 70-lap race over 308.586 kilometres in 1 hour 30 minutes 54.200 seconds.

Massa trailed by 2.4 seconds and Hamilton, the only top driver on three stops, was a massive 32.2 seconds off the pace.

Also in the points were the BMWs of Robert Kubica (back from his horror crash three weeks ago in Canada) and Nick Heidfeld, Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, Alonso, and Jenson Button got the first point of the season for Honda.

Alonso had no luck on Sunday, stuck for a long time behind Heidfeld and riding out three times as well during the race.

'I tried to the maximum. I came here to win, not to finish seventh,' insisted Alonso.