Massa wins from Raikkonen in Ferrari one-two at French GP

Jun 22, 2008, 18:32 GMT

Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa during the French Formula One Grand Prix at the Magny Cours race track near Nevers in France, on 22 June 2008. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA

Magny-Cours, France - Felipe Massa won the French Formula One Grand Prix from Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday to take the championship lead while McLaren-Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton suffered another setback.

Massa took the lead shortly after the halfway mark of the 70-lap race when Raikkonen's exhaust pipe came off which slightly lowered the performance of the world champion's car.

Jarno Trulli was third in a Toyota, the team's first podium in more than two years, as rain threatened in the closing stages.

'It was a good present,' admitted Massa, who is the first championship leader from Brazil since the late Ayrton Senna.

'Second place would have been good, first is even better. It was fantastic. I didn't expect it,' said Massa.

The 2007 Magny-Cours winner Raikkonen did not know what to make of the result after failing to finish in the previous two races.

'It is disappointing not to win but the eight points are good. I am in a more comfortable position in the championship,' said the Finn. 'I lost massive power and was lucky to have a big gap.'

Hamilton had to swallow a drive-through penalty for gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane in heavy traffic in the opening lap with his McLaren-Mercedes and finished outside the points in 10th place. The Briton had to start the race from 13th place after being docked 10 places for driving into Raikkonen two weeks ago in Canada.

'If you are squeezed you have to go off the circuit,' said McLaren chief Ron Dennis in disgust about the latest sanction on the team.

The Canada winner Robert Kubica came fifth and as a result lost the championship lead again in a dramatic title race.

Massa is the new leader with 48 points from eight of 18 races, Kubica has 46, Raikkonen improved to 43 while Hamilton remained on 38.

'It is nice to lead the championship,' said Massa, who is the fourth leader in the last four races. 'It is only the middle of the championship. We have to do our job.'

Ferrari got its sixth win in eight years in Magny-Cours and its third one-two finish in 2008 in convincing style after already showing its superiority on the track in Saturday's qualifying.

Raikkonen hung on to his pole position (Ferrari's 200th) ahead of Massa at the start, in search of a top result after not finishing in Monte Carlo and then being shunted out by Hamilton in Canada.

However, the Finn's performance dropped slightly in the 32nd lap as the exhaust pipe came off and swung in the air before falling off later. Massa quickly made up a six-second gap and took the lead.

The Brazilian clinched his third season win in 1 hour 31 minutes 50.245 seconds after 70 laps for 308.586 kilometres.

'It was a great race, we showed that we are heading in the right direction,' said Massa, with Raikkonen saying that 'the one-two is a great thing.'

Trulli moved into third place early on at the start and hung on to it, with Heikki Kovalainen saving face for McLaren in fourth place and Kubica following to underline his excellent consistency with the BMW.

But nothing went right again for Hamilton. The Briton moved up to ninth place quickly but was then adjudged by race stewards to have gained an advantage when he failed to stay on the track and cut the chicane in the opening lap in heavy traffic.

He served the penalty in the 13th lap and was never close to the points again in a race which saw only Jenson Button not finish.

Hamilton must now hope for a turnaround at the next race - the British home Grand Prix for himself and McLaren on July 6 in Silverstone.

'We go to Silverstone with the firm view to winning it,' insisted Dennis.