"I always believed that things would come together for me, and I was positive even in the difficult moments. I think that the results in North America have changed the perceptions around me, not my confidence in myself. My job is to focus on the essentials, block out the rest – and drive to my full potential. It’s no secret that France is a really important race for
Renault, and racing in front of all the people from the factory at Viry and the other Renault factories, makes the atmosphere very special for us. When I last raced in Magny-Cours in GP2, I had one win and one podium, so it’s a circuit I enjoy. I think we made another step with the car last week at
Silverstone, so I am looking forward to getting out there and seeing how things stack up."
Ferrari – Felipe Massa (#5), Kimi Raikkonen (#6):
Outclassed again by Mclaren at Indianapolis, Ferrari knows that Magny-Cours needs to produce a better result or it can begin to kiss goodbye to its title hopes for another year. After a positive test at Silverstone, however, both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen head to France in positive frame of mind.
"Magny-Cours and the French Grand Prix could be a good weekend for us," the Brazilian claims, "Last year, I finished on the podium and it was the start of a good run for me in the second half of the championship as things started to come right for us.
"When you look back to Canada, maybe we were not quite as quick as the McLarens but, in the race I was ahead of Alonso and maybe I could have finished on the podium, which would have been a good result, even if it had not been possible to win. Our aim there was to get as many points as possible, even if we could not match the pace of our competitor. At Indy, we looked slightly more competitive, if again not quite on the pace of our rivals. Finishing on the podium was not a complete disaster and, looking back at the last two races, if it had not been for that problem in Montreal, then the championship would still be completely open.
