Getting both of their drivers into the second knockout stage for the first time this season, MF1 were one of only four teams to get both of their cars through the first corner carnage but a gearbox problem for Christijan Albers and a collision with
Takuma Sato for Tiago Monteiro meant neither would finish, let alone score their first points of the year.
Nonetheless, the scent of scoring possible points has given both drivers immense confidence going into the second half of the year, particularly for Monteiro, who returns to a circuit he knows well from his days in lower formulas.
"I like the track at Magny-Cours," Monteiro said. "I raced there quite a bit while I was competing in France in the lower categories, so I want to be able to take advantage of that experience. It will also be nice for me to see some friends and old sponsors I was close to when I was living there.
"The team has been working really hard to introduce some new parts for the car, so we need to recompense them with a good finish. We've had some competitive performances that haven't yet translated into good race results, so I really want to keep pushing hard to score the first points for Midland this year!"
Albers, meanwhile, is returning to the circuit where he suffered the biggest crash in his F1 career, courtesy of a problem in the pit stops that allowed a wheel on his Minardi to come lose and pitch him wildly off the circuit. Still, with that behind him, the Dutchman is hoping for better luck this year
"Last year's race at Magny-Cours left a huge impact on me. Literally! Due to technical problems, I lost the car, crashing it at over 200 km/h. That was my first big shunt in
Formula 1, but at least it showed me how safe F1 cars are these days. This year, I'm planning on finishing the race and I hope we can build on the qualifying result we achieved in the USA. It's great to be back in Europe, and especially France. This country loves
F1, so I hope it will be a good show for the fans and for our team."
Scuderia Toro Rosso - Vitantonio Liuzzi (#20), Scott Speed (#21):
It has been a long time coming but Scuderia Toro Rosso finally got themselves off the mark at Indianapolis, despite Vitantonio Liuzzi actually starting from his worst position of the year.
