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Russ Bond Motorsport Report: Raikkonen Leads Ferrari 1-2

Kimi Raikkonen came back to earth this past weekend at Magny Cours,site of the French Grand Prix – and the last French Grand Prix to be held there. Actually, the Ferrari boys had it pretty much there own way all weekend as the McLaren duo of defending champion Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton looked, um, well, ordinary for a change.
Much of the talk between Indy and this week's Grand Prix centered around the Ferrari wind tunnel, or lack thereof.

It was reportedly broken and that was the explanation for the loss of performance by Ferrari over the last few weeks. It seems that it's up and running now, as Felipe Massa took the pole, followed by a fantastic qualifying performance from Hamilton that put him second on the grid. Raikkonen was third, while Alonso had gearbox issues that made him miss most of the final qualifying session, putting him 10th on the grid.

Massa took the lead at the start, and Hamilton – for the first time in his F1 career – was passed by Raikkonen on the start. The two Ferraris checked out while Hamilton struggled to keep pace.

Massa had a four second

The podium of the French Grand Prix. Notice the body language of the two Ferrari drivers. (Photo: Ferrari)

lead at the first stop, and he came out ahead of Raikkonen for the second stint. During that stint, Massa had more issues with the traffic than Raikkonen. During the second stops – Massa stopped first – Raikkonen was able to leapfrog Massa and that was the way they finished.

Hamilton's streak of podium finishes is now up to eight – every race so far. In the post race, you could see that the Ferrari camp is anything but a happy place. What builds championship teams is teamwork, and a good atmosphere, and at Ferrari there is none of that. Raikkonen and Massa looked miles apart in the post race interviews, and their body languageshowed that they are teammates only in color.

Part of the reason for this is Michael Schumacher – there's a name I haven't typed in a while. He

Kimi Raikkonen leapfrogged Felipe Massa on the second series of pit stops to win the French Grand Prix. (Photo: Ferrari)

has taken Massa under his wing as a student, while Raikkonen goes his own way, saying in essence, he doesn't need Schumi's help.

Ferrari is not the only team with internal issues as McLaren, with Alonso finishing seventh, and Ferrari on the rise, how long will it be before they have to concentrate their efforts towards the rookie Hamilton instead of their highly paid double world champion? Clearly this will not sit well with Alonso, who has paid his dues and is owed the best McLaren can provide.

This weekend is the British Grand Prix, a home race for Hamilton, so Alonso shouldn't expect any favors there. Ferrari tested there last week, and both were bullets, so should Ferrari go 1-2 again, eating into Hamilton's 14 point lead ... things could get very interesting at the top.

Additional items worthy of noting from the French Grand Prix include the return of Renault, not quite in

Felipe Massa tried to congratulate his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen looked the other way... (Photo: Ferrari)

world championship form but nevertheless putting up a good fight to finish Giancarlo Fisichella in a points paying sixth place, while BMW's Robert Kubica once again outperformed his more experienced teammate Nick Heidfeld, but only by one finishing position, 4th compared to 5th. Congratulations should also go to a very brave Jensen Button for manhandling his Honda to a points paying 8th position (about as exciting as winning a race if you're one of the top teams). Also, good on American Scott Speed for pulling his Torro Rosso car into the second qualifying stint, and wonders of wonders, Toyota's Ralf Schumacher actually made Q2 before being relegated to the 11th grid position prior to finishing a disappointing 10th in the race, and out of the points. Back to Speed, his Q2 success couldn't have come at a better time as the word in the paddock is that Champcar champ Sébastien Bourdais has been testing with Red Bull, and could potentially replace him or his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi.

French GP - Sunday

Denny Hamlin just beat Jeff Gordon to the line at New Hampshire. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

- Race Results

French Grand Prix Results - 1 July 2007 - 70 Laps
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT LAPS TIME/RETIRE
1. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari 70 1h30m54.200
2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 70 2.414
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 70 32.153
4. Robert Kubica Poland BMW 70 41.727
5. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW 70 48.801
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 70 52.210
7. Fernando Alonso Spain McLaren-Mercedes 70 56.516
8. Jenson Button Britain Honda 70 58.885
9. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 70 1m08.505
10. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 69 1 Lap
11. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 69 1 Lap
12. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 69 1 Lap
13. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Renault 69 1 Lap
14. Alexander Wurz Austria Williams-Toyota 69 1 Lap
15. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Renault 69 1 Lap
16. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 68 2 Laps
17. Adrian Sutil Germany Spyker-Ferrari 68 2 Laps

R Scott Speed United States Toro Rosso-Ferrari 55 Gearbox
R Christijan

(R-L) Interim crew chief Jeff Meendering of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet driven by Jeff Gordon, talks with interim crew chief Ron Malec, #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, driven by Jimmie Johnson, prior to the start of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. (Photo: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images)

Albers Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 48 Retired
R Anthony Davidson Britain Super Aguri-Honda 1 Damage
R Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1 Damage
R Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Accident
FASTEST LAP:
Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 42 1:16.099

Hamlin back in victory lane at New Hampshire

Denny Hamlin has had a year of close ... but not quite. That all changed at New Hampshire, where Hamlin took the victory over Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr. But to be honest, had the race been 301 laps instead of 300, it might well have been the same old story for Hamlin. He slipped coming out of the final corner, and Gordon got a run, but couldn't beat him to the line.

For Hamlin, who had a sixth place car at best, the call for two tires on his final stop, rather than four – which Gordon took – made all the difference. The new cars, like the old cars really favor clean air. A top seven car out front in clean air – even with only two new tires – is very hard to catch.

Hamlin proved that, and talked about it afterward.

"Mike was biding his time on when to

Jeff Gordon continues to roll in Nextel Cup, despite a new crew chief and 100 point penalty. (Photo: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images)

make that two-tire call at the end," Hamlin said. "Of course I was giving them an earful at the beginning of the race about, 'I just need some track position.' It was so hard to pass, I knew if we just got that clean air that we would be in better shape."

Even Truex backed up what Hamlin was saying.

"It seemed like track position was pretty huge all day," Truex said. "Earlier in the race some guys got up there with two tires and didn't seem to slow them down all that much."

NASCAR should take note. It seems the larger the track, the more aero the new car needs to be good, and that is going to be a problem.

When they get to the mile and a half, and superspeedways, track position will be everything because a good or great car in dirty air is junk. It was not supposed to be this way with the new car, but all indications are it will be, and trust me, the racing will suffer.

NASCAR dished out some lame penalties to Hendrick after the issues at Sonoma last week. The main rules violations were; 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); 20-2.1E (parts or components of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that have been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted); and 20-2H (fenders may not be cut

Denny Hamlin has waited nearly a year to do a victory burnout. (Photo: Todd Warshaw, Getty Images for NASCAR)

or altered except for wheel or tire clearance which must be approved by the Series Director) of the 2007 NASCAR rule book.

That's quite a few broken rules. But I think the team got off light.
Gordon and Johnson were each being penalized 100 driver championship points – like they ok'd the changes.

Their respective crew chiefs -- Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus -- have each been fined $100,000, suspended for the next six Nextel Cup Series events until Aug. 15 and placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2007.

In today's technological world, this mightactually be better than having them on the pit box. Larry MacReynolds, now an analyst for television said during Sunday's race, when he first came up to the 'box' he was surprised what he could see, versus sitting on the pit box. He actually could have been a better crew chief sitting away from the team, where he could see the whole track, watch NASCAR's hot pass, and look at all the data from the other cars. For Letarte and Knaus, this could help more than hurt. Just look at where Gordon and Johnson finished ... did you see any difference.

What they should do is ban crewchiefs from any contact with the team, either during the week or on the weekend – kind of a NASCAR jail. That might have some effect, but I doubt it.

Of course, Hendrick saw it a little differently. "We are disappointed in NASCAR's decision and feel the penalties are excessive," Hendrick said.

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