22/06/2008
NEWS STORY
Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) has won the eighth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from second on the grid after using a medium-soft-soft compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours.
Massa was joined on the podium by team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli, who scored his first podium finish since the Spanish Grand Prix in 2005. Finishing fourth was Heikki Kovalainen (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) whilst BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica finished in fifth.
Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) finished sixth, ahead of Nelson Piquet (ING Renault F1 Team) who scored his first Formula One World Championship points. Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) was the final driver to score, gaining a point for his eighth position.
The top thirteen drivers finished on the lead lap, and despite light rain during the latter parts of the race, only Bridgestone's dry grooved Potenza tyres were used. Tyre performance from the medium and soft Bridgestone Potenza tyres was strong in the race and the majority of drivers used a medium- medium-soft strategy to achieve their result. Notably, AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg used a one stop strategy, completing his first 40 laps using the soft compound tyre. The race's fastest lap, a 1min 16.630secs, was set by Raikkonen on lap 16 using the medium compound tyre. Only Raikkonen and Massa set race lap times in the 1min 16secs today.
Leaving Magny Cours, Massa leads the drivers' championship with 48 points, ahead of Kubica on 46. Raikkonen is in third place with 43 points. Ferrari lead the constructors' championship with 91 points, ahead of BMW Sauber on 74 points. McLaren Mercedes are in third place with 58 points.
Formula One teams will be testing next week at Silverstone June 24-26, using the hard and medium compound Potenza tyres. The next Grand Prix is the Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 4-6 where Bridgestone's hard and medium compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: We are very happy with our tyre performance here today. There were many strategies possible, but I believe the best solution was the medium – medium – soft strategy that we saw most drivers use. Kimi was fastest, but unfortunately for him he had a problem and he had to be patient to take second place. Congratulations to Felipe and Ferrari for their win and especially to Felipe for taking the championship lead.
Congratulations also to Jarno Trulli and Toyota for their good result. In Moto GP we must also praise Casey Stoner and Ducati for their win and Valentino Rossi and Yamaha for their second place in the MotoGP race at Donington Park.