According to who you believe, the political fallout from Indianapolis continues, but (hopefully) we can now put that aside for ninety minutes and focus on what Formula One should be about, racing.

Fernando Alonso starts from pole position for the third time this season, on both previous occasions - Malaysia and Bahrain - he converted this into a win.

Starting alongside him is former teammate, and good friend, Jarno Trulli, who, following a mistake at the final chicane here in 2004, found his relationship with Renault beginning to fall apart.

Kimi Raikkonen should have been starting from the second row, however an engine failure on Friday means that the Finn is demoted ten places and will now start alongside Nick Heidfeld on the seventh row. That said, it would who would bet against the McLaren driver being on the podium later this afternoon.

Thanks to the Indianapolis debacle, Michael Schumacher is now in a serious championship contender, albeit 25 points behind Alonso. Scenting a possible eighth title, the German is sure to move up a gear in the coming weeks, providing Ferrari and Bridgestone are up to the job.

Then again, Sato, Fisichella, Button and Montoya all looked good in yesterday's qualifying session. The only real disappointments being the two WilliamsF1 cars.

As ever, strategy is also the key.

Qualifying was exceedingly tight, with the top nine covered by less than a second. Although (driver) opinion regarding Magny Cours is mixed, unlike some tracks on the calendar, the track does offer a couple of genuine overtaking possibilities, it's only a pity that we don't have some rain - or the threat of it - to add to the mix.

Talking of weather, there is hardly a cloud in the sky, and the grid assemble under clear blue skies, with the air temperature at 33 degrees C, and the track temperature 51 degrees C.

The cars head off on the warm-up lap for the first of four races this month, as F1 looks begins the most intensive race schedule in its fifty-six year history.

They're away, and Alonso makes an excellent start, as do Trulli and Schumacher. Sato makes a poor start, while both Red Bulls and Montoya gain positions.

At the end of the first lap, Alonso leads Trulli by 1.4s, with Michael third ahead of Barrichello, Sato, Fisichella, Montoya, Button and Massa. Meanwhile, Raikkonen is all over Villeneuve, who is running tenth.

Sadly, Klien is the first retirement of the day, the Red Bull driver pulling off on the second lap.

Alonso posts a fastest lap (17.056) as he extends his lead to 2.8s, as Raikkonen takes tenth from Villeneuve and sets off after Massa. Behind Trulli, the next thirteen cars are running nose-to-tail.

Another driver who had a good start is Albers, who has made up two places and is all over Karthikeyan.

Another fastest lap for Alonso (16.551) as he enjoys an advantage of 5.5s over Trulli. The Italian is under close scrutiny from Schumacher, who is now 1.4s ahead of Barrichello. Sato is fourth, ahead of Fisichella, Montoya, Button, Massa and Raikkonen.