Felipe Massa and
Kimi Raikkonen delivered
Ferrari an unchallenged one-two finish in the 2008 French Grand Prix – much as they had done this time last year, albeit the other way round – whilst further down the field the story was all about how
Lewis Hamilton's season is threatening to fly off the rails in much the same way as the McLaren-Mercedes ace flew off the track in Magny-Cours.
With rain menacing ahead of the start, all eyes on the skies, a somewhat topsy-turvy grid and both
McLaren drivers beginning somewhat further down than expected, the scene was set for fireworks – and by Magny-Cours standards at least, the race in some measure lived up to that promise.
As Raikkonen held station over Massa when the lights went out, a fast-starting
Jarno Trulli out-dragged
Fernando Alonso from row two, with
Robert Kubica also getting past the Spaniard for good measure,
Timo Glock flying off the fourth row to slot into sixth place and the tardy
Red Bull Racing machines of
Mark Webber and
David Coulthard both losing ground.
Further down the order, Hamilton put a move on
Scuderia Toro Rosso's
Sebastian Vettel for twelfth, and though he flew off the track straight afterwards, absolutely on the ragged edge, he retained the place – though the Briton would later find himself under investigation by the race stewards for his troubles.
Further back still,
Jenson Button was assaulted from behind by one of the Force Indias – and would subsequently have to pit for a new front wing to complete his misery – whilst Alonso regained fourth position from Kubica later around the opening lap when the Pole ran briefly wide in attempting to find a way by Trulli, and the
Renault star would go on to chase down his former team-mate ahead.
