Alonso wins at Fuji

Fernando Alonso took his and Renault's second shock victory in succession in the Japanese Grand Prix, as title contenders Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton finished only eighth and 12th after a series of controversial early incidents.

Both Hamilton (McLaren) and Massa (Ferrari) were delayed by drive-through penalties - the Briton for forcing Kimi Raikkonen wide at the start, and Massa for pushing his title rival into a spin shortly afterwards.

Robert Kubica kept himself in title contention by finishing second for BMW, fending off Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
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Live: Raceday at Monza

08:57 Italian Davide Valsecchi has surged through in to the lead as the GP2 drama continues.
Lucas Di Grassi has been handed a drive through penalty for the clash with Mike Conway and fell down the order as he visited the pits.
The ever-spectacular Pastor Maldonado is once again a man on the move and is up to fourth.
Romain Grosjean has put pressure on Roldán Rodríguez for second over a couple of laps and slipped by in an excellent move at the first chicane. However, he has just thrown that away with a lurid slide, handing second back to Rodríguez.
ref[AS]
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vettel record in italia

Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver in Formula One history to secure a pole position after finishing on top in a wet qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix.

Vettel set his time early in Q3, and looked increasingly safe as the rain steadily became heavier.

In the end his 1:37.555 was enough to keep him clear of second-placed Heikki Kovalainen, while a stunning all-or-nothing lap from Mark Webber got the Australian up to P3 on his final run, edging out Sebastien Bourdais.

While there were celebrations in the STR garage, it was a different story for world championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who had a dreadful afternoon and now faces the task of trying to salvage a result from 15th on the grid.

Hamilton's problems began with a gamble on intermediates early in Q2. It never looked like paying off, but even though the Briton replaced them with full wets, he appeared distinctly uncomfortable with the conditions throughout the entire session and never threatened the top order.

McLaren were not the only front-running team to trip over during Q2. Kimi Raikkonen missed the cut-off and will start from 14th, and BMW's Robert Kubica could manage no better than 11th.

Hamilton's misfortunes will make life easier for main title rival Felipe Massa tomorrow, who will start the race from sixth alongside Nico Rosberg. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock delivered on Toyota's early promise to end the afternoon in seventh and ninth, bookending Fernando Alonso, with Nick Heidfeld completing the top 10.

Force India recognised the adverse conditions as a chance to get a result, and the team were rewarded when Giancarlo Fisichella made it through to Q2 for the first time this season, the Italian finishing a very respectable 12th.

Both of the Hondas were early casualties, with Jenson Button both failing to make it through the first session.

Nelson Piquet also missed out at the expense of Renault teammate Fernando Alonso, who knocked him back below the cut-off point just moments after he'd pulled himself above it.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:35.464 1:35.837 1:37.555
2. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.214 1:35.843 1:37.631
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.001 1:36.306 1:38.117
4. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:35.543 1:36.175 1:38.445
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.485 1:35.898 1:38.767
6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:35.536 1:36.676 1:38.894
7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:35.906 1:36.008 1:39.152
8. Alonso Renault (B) 1:36.297 1:36.518 1:39.751
9. Glock Toyota (B) 1:35.737 1:36.525 1:39.787
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:35.709 1:36.626 1:39.906
11. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:35.553 1:36.697
12. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:36.280 1:36.698
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.485 1:37.284
14. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:35.965 1:37.522
15. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.394 1:39.265
16. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:36.510
17. Piquet Renault (B) 1:36.630
18. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.653
19. Button Honda (B) 1:37.006
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:37.417
ref[AS]
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incredeble race at beautifull spa


Lewis Hamilton took a dominant pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, resisting a strong challenge from his main title rival Felipe Massa.

Heikki Kovalainen put the second McLaren third on the grid, but three-time race winner Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) will start only fourth this time.

McLaren looked on course for a front row sweep after the first flying laps of Q3, with Hamilton and Kovalainen provisionally holding first and second.

Massa was back in fifth thanks to a scruffy first run, but he recovered well to set a 1:47.678 lap at the second attempt to usurp Hamilton.

The Briton was already responding, however, beating all three of Massa's new benchmark sector times and producing a 1:47.338 to snatch pole back by over three tenths of a second.
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will mclaren wins today ?

Lewis Hamilton took a dominant pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, resisting a strong challenge from his main title rival Felipe Massa.

Heikki Kovalainen put the second McLaren third on the grid, but three-time race winner Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) will start only fourth this time.

McLaren looked on course for a front row sweep after the first flying laps of Q3, with Hamilton and Kovalainen provisionally holding first and second.

Massa was back in fifth thanks to a scruffy first run, but he recovered well to set a 1:47.678 lap at the second attempt to usurp Hamilton.

The Briton was already responding, however, beating all three of Massa's new benchmark sector times and producing a 1:47.338 to snatch pole back by over three tenths of a second.

Kovalainen, who had topped Q2, had to settle for third, just over a tenth quicker than Raikkonen.

Nick Heidfeld out-qualified his BMW teammate Robert Kubica for only the second time this year as the German took fifth, alongside Renault's Fernando Alonso, while Kubica had to settle for eighth.

Mark Webber scraped into the top ten in the closing moments of Q2 and then earned seventh in Q3 - which was something of a breakthrough on a so far difficult weekend for Red Bull. David Coulthard only managed 14th in the second car.

Toro Rosso again got both cars into top ten, with Sebastien Bourdais going fastest of all in Q1 with a shock late lap. The Frenchman and teammate Sebastian Vettel had to be content with the fifth row when it came to Q3, through, with Vettel saving fuel and only opting for one qualifying attempt.

Webber's improvement meant that both Toyotas were pushed out of the top ten. Jarno Trulli looked set to reach Q3 until Webber's improvement pushed him down to 11th, while Timo Glock didn't improve sufficiently on his last Q2 run and had to settle for 13th. Renault's Nelson Piquet will start between the Toyota pair.

Force India appeared to be on course for their best qualifying result of the year as Adrian Sutil grabbed 14th and Giancarlo Fisichella edged up to 16th towards the end of Q1.

But last gasp improvements from Glock, Webber and the Hondas relegated Sutil and Fisichella to 18th and 20th respectively, split by Kazuki Nakajima's Williams after a very disappointing performance from the Japanese rookie. His teammate Nico Rosberg was 0.7 seconds faster in Q1, but couldn't better 15th in Q2.

Although Honda managed to beat the Force Indias, they couldn't summon enough speed to avoid Q1 elimination, with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button ending up only 16th and 17th, 0.6 seconds slower than they needed to be to reach the next segment.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.887 1:46.088 1:47.338 12
2. Massa Ferrari 1:46.873 1:46.391 1:47.678 16
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.812 1:46.037 1:47.815 16
4. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:46.960 1:46.298 1:47.992 14
5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:47.419 1:46.311 1:48.315 18
6. Alonso Renault 1:47.154 1:46.491 1:48.504 18
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:47.270 1:46.814 1:48.736 19
8. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:47.093 1:46.494 1:48.763 20
9. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:46.777 1:46.544 1:48.951 19
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:47.152 1:46.804 1:50.319 16
11. Trulli Toyota 1:47.400 1:46.949 13
12. Piquet Renault 1:47.052 1:46.965 15
13. Glock Toyota 1:47.359 1:46.995 13
14. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:47.132 1:47.018 15
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:47.503 1:47.429 12
16. Barrichello Honda 1:48.153 9
17. Button Honda 1:48.211 9
18. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:48.226 9
19. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:48.268 9
20. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:48.447 9
ref[AS]
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massa wins but on investigation


Felipe Massa took a dominant victory in the first European Grand Prix at Valencia, beating championship leader Lewis Hamilton into second place.

But a question mark is hanging over Massa's win, with the stewards set to carry on a post-race investigation into a controversial pitlane incident that saw the Brazilian nearly collide with Force India's Adrian Sutil as they rejoined after their second stops.

It was one of two dramatic pitlane moments that marred Ferrari's afternoon, as Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen pulled away prematurely at his last stop and hit a member of the team's pit crew, who has been taken to the medical centre for further checks.

Behind Massa, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Robert Kubica (BMW) completed the podium ahead of Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen, with Raikkonen ultimately stopping with an apparent engine failure.

Ferrari's pit dramas aside, Valencia's maiden F1 race was an uneventful one. Massa got cleanly away in the lead from pole position, while his front row partner Hamilton had to work hard to fend off Kubica into the first corner.

The top trio then settle into that order for the rest of the afternoon. Massa was the lightest of the leaders, yet despite pitting two laps earlier than Hamilton, he was able to pull out enough of an advantage not to come under threat.
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Kimi Back?


Kimi Raikkonen beat home crowd favourite Fernando Alonso to the fastest time in the second free practice session at the new Valencia street track.
Until Raikkonen's last gasp lap, Alonso looked set to end the day at the top of the timesheets, having leapt to the front of the field on the supersoft Bridgestones with four minutes remaining, only for the reigning champion to pip him by 0.020 seconds in the closing moments.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:39.477 30
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:39.497 + 0.020 39
3. Button Honda (B) 1:39.546 + 0.069 35
4. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:39.678 + 0.201 31
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:39.712 + 0.235 31
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:39.954 + 0.477 30
7. Glock Toyota (B) 1:39.967 + 0.490 32
8. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:40.149 + 0.672 35
9. Piquet Renault (B) 1:40.439 + 0.962 32
10. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:40.500 + 1.023 23
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:40.585 + 1.108 24
12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:40.607 + 1.130 34
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:40.696 + 1.219 23
14. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:40.742 + 1.265 34
15. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:40.877 + 1.400 32
16. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:40.982 + 1.505 36
17. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:40.999 + 1.522 32
18. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:41.084 + 1.607 35
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:41.246 + 1.769 38
20. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:41.377 + 1.900 31
ref [AS]
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Poor Massa

filiepe massa
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1h37:27.067
2. Glock Toyota (B) + 11.061
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 16.856
4. Alonso Renault (B) + 21.614
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 23.048
6. Piquet Renault (B) + 32.298
7. Trulli Toyota (B) + 36.449
8. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 48.321
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 58.834
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1:07.709
11. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:10.407
12. Button Honda (B) + 1 lap
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
14. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
15. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
16. Barrichello Honda (B) + 2 laps
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 3 laps
18. Massa Ferrari (B) + 3 laps
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anyone can stop Mclaren


Qualifying in Hungary saw Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen wrap up the first all-McLaren front row since Monza 2007, leaving Felipe Massa to take third for Ferrari and team mate Kimi Raikkonen a little breathless on the third row in sixth place.

Massa was the only man to trouble Hamilton throughout qualifying. The Englishman lapped in 1m 19.376s to dominate Q1, but was only third in Q2 where the Brazilian set the pace with 1m 19.068s.

Tyre choice proved crucial. Hamilton used the softer Bridgestone in Q2 and planned to run it in Q3, but Massa’s speed on the harder tyre in that second session prompted McLaren to switch to the prime tyre instead. On that, Hamilton proved dominant again with a lap of 1m 20.899s, which gave McLaren their eighth pole in Hungary, and him his 10th overall.

Kovalainen backed him strongly with 1m 21.140s, the difference in times most likely explained by fuel load. Massa was only fifth with seconds to go, but banged in a lap of 1m 21.191s at the end and is confident that Ferrari have the package to challenge McLaren on Sunday.
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Hamilton Quicker at Germany

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, Germamy;
67 laps; 306.458km;
Weather: Sunny.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1h31:20.874
2. Piquet Renault (B) + 5.586
3. Massa Ferrari (B) + 9.339
4. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 9.825
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 12.411
6. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 14.403
7. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 22.682
8. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 33.299
9. Trulli Toyota (B) + 37.158
10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 37.625
11. Alonso Renault (B) + 38.600
12. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 39.111
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 54.971
14. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 59.093
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:00.003
16. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1:09.488
17. Button Honda (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Heidfeld, 1:15.987

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Barrichello Honda (B) 52
Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 41
Glock Toyota (B) 37


World Championship standings, round 10:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Hamilton 58 1. Ferrari 105
2. Massa 54 2. BMW Sauber 89
3. Raikkonen 51 3. McLaren-Mercedes 86
4. Kubica 48 4. Toyota 25
5. Heidfeld 41 5. Red Bull-Renault 24
6. Kovalainen 28 6. Renault 23
7. Trulli 20 7. Williams-Toyota 16
8. Webber 18 8. Honda 14
9. Alonso 13 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
10. Barrichello 11
11. Piquet 10
12. Rosberg 8
13. Nakajima 8
14. Vettel 6
15. Coulthard 6
16. Glock 5
17. Button 3
18. Bourdais 2

All timing unofficial
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Hamilton pole in Germany


Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.218 1:14.603 1:15.666 13
2. Massa Ferrari 1:14.921 1:14.747 1:15.859 16
3. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.476 1:14.855 1:16.143 17
4. Trulli Toyota 1:15.560 1:15.122 1:16.191 21
5. Alonso Renault 1:15.917 1:14.943 1:16.385 19
6. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.201 1:14.949 1:16.389 19
7. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:15.985 1:15.109 1:16.521 20
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:15.900 1:15.481 1:17.014 20
9. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.532 1:15.420 1:17.244 22
10. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:15.975 1:15.338 1:17.503 20
11. Glock Toyota 1:15.560 1:15.508 17
12. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:15.596 1:15.581 14
13. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:15.863 1:15.633 16
14. Button Honda 1:15.993 1:15.701 15
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.927 1:15.858 15
16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:16.083 10
17. Piquet Renault 1:16.189 7
18. Barrichello Honda 1:16.246 10
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:16.657 10
20. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:16.963 10
ref[AS]
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Gp Britan result

hamilton
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 60 1:39:09.440 4 10
2 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 60 +68.5 secs 5 8
3 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 60 +82.2 secs 16 6
4 1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 3 5
5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 1 4
6 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 59 +1 Lap 6 3
7 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota 59 +1 Lap 14 2
8 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 59 +1 Lap 15 1
9 7 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 59 +1 Lap 20
10 10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 59 +1 Lap 2
11 14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 13
12 12 Timo Glock Toyota 59 +1 Lap 12
13 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +2 Laps 9
Ret 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 39 Spin 10
Ret 16 Jenson Button Honda 38 Spin 17
Ret 6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 35 Spin 7
Ret 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 26 Spin 19
Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 10 Spin 18
Ret 15 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 0 Spin 8
Ret 9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 0 Spin 11
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Kovalainen on the brink?


After playing second fiddle to McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton for much of 2008, Heikki Kovalainen has his best chance yet of a maiden Formula One win on Sunday, following his spectacular qualifying performance at Silverstone.
However, with changeable weather predicted, the grid for the British Grand Prix may yet prove academic. After three sessions of qualifying in which rain spots and heavy crosswinds played significant roles, this is how it was formed…
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 21.049s, P1
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 21.835, P4
McLaren had the pace to get both cars on to the front row, but first and fourth places still make them statistically the team that starts with the strongest chances. Kovalainen reported his MP4-23 to be all over the place on his first run in Q3 thanks to the crosswind, but put a sweet lap together on his second run to take the first pole of his F1 career. Hamilton went off the road at Priory on his first run, and admitted that he was more cautious through there on his second try. Some of the gap between them may be explained by respective fuel loads, but the truth is that the Finn has been very hooked up all weekend. Will this be his big breakthrough?
Red Bull
Mark Webber, 1m 21.554s, P2
David Coulthard, 1m 20.174s, P11
Everybody was surprised to see Webber plant his Red Bull RB4 second on the grid, even the Australian himself. This is almost certainly the car in the top four with the lightest fuel load, but it was still a good performance that bodes well for a strong race from this emergent team. Coulthard was disappointed with 11th, and blamed the engine oil leak that lost him valuable track time to finish setting up the car in the morning.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 21.706s, P3
Felipe Massa, 1m 23.305s, P9
Raikkonen was much happier with his Ferrari than he was on Friday, but still felt that it was not as good as it had been in the previous week’s test due to changes in the track conditions. He is one driver for sure desperate to know the fuel loads of his immediate rivals. Massa looked good all through practice, but suffered a problem with the right rear wheel nut on his Ferrari during his final tyre change, and never made it out for his second run.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 21.873s, P5
Robert Kubica, No time, P10
BMW Sauber were another team damned by ill fortune towards the end of Q3, when Kubica’s car suffered a mechanical problem at the rear which kept him in the pits when everyone else was doing their second runs. Heidfeld, however, was back to his old self with a strong run to fifth place, having run Kubica very close in Q2 when the F1.08s picked up a serious amount of pace.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 22.029s, P6
Nelson Piquet, 1m 22.491s, P7
Alonso said his sixth place was a satisfying result for Renault in the changing track conditions, and looks forward to a strong finish. Piquet was also pleased with his best qualifying performance in taking seventh, on his illustrious team mate’s tail. He was happy with his R28.
Toro Rosso
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 23.251, P8
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 20.531s, P13
Vettel has looked good all weekend, and eighth on the grid showed that Toro Rosso are really getting to grips with their STR3. He was really happy with its balance and thus able to really lean on it in the fast stuff. Bourdais did a great job to leap to sixth place after the rain shower in Q1, and was relatively happy with the compromise set-up his crew arrived at on his car after struggling throughout practice. But he admitted that qualifying 13th was not satisfying.
Toyota
Timo Glock, 1m 20.274s, P12
Jarno Trulli, 1m 20.601s, P14
After Magny-Cours, Toyota came down to earth with a bump at Silverstone. Glock said he was mystified why things didn’t work out better than 12th place for him, while Trulli continued to struggle to get his TF108 decently balanced.
Williams
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 21.112s, P15
Nico Rosberg, 1m 21.668s, P18
Williams were in trouble again on their home track. Nakajima got through to Q2 while struggling for grip, but Rosberg was a faller in Q1 as he blamed the way his FW30 jumped ‘around all over the place’ in the corners.
Honda
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 21.512s, P16
Jenson Button, 1m 21.631s, P17
Barrichello admitted honestly that 16th and 17th places were a reflection of Honda’s potential on such a quick track, and both he and Button were unfortunate that their final Q1 runs came just as the rain fell. Resultant lack of tyre temperature killed their slim chances of making it through to Q2.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, 1m 21.786s, P19
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 21.885s, P20
Sutil and Fisichella were encouraged by how close they got to the Hondas, but the former struggled with graining front tyres. Fisichella had a problem with his VJM01’s engine cover, and his chances of going quicker were frustrated when he spun in the complex on his final Q1 run.

David Tremayne
ref[formula1.com]
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Kovalainen on maiden F1 pole at Silverstone

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.957 1:19.597 1:21.049 15
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:20.982 1:19.710 1:21.554 16
3. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:20.370 1:19.971 1:21.706 18
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.288 1:19.537 1:21.835 13
5. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:21.022 1:19.802 1:21.873 16
6. Alonso Renault 1:20.998 1:19.992 1:22.029 15
7. Piquet Renault 1:20.818 1:20.115 1:22.491 19
8. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.318 1:20.109 1:23.251 16
9. Massa Ferrari 1:20.676 1:20.086 1:23.305 16
10. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:20.444 1:19.788 12
11. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:21.224 1:20.174 14
12. Glock Toyota 1:20.893 1:20.274 14
13. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.584 1:20.531 16
14. Trulli Toyota 1:21.145 1:20.601 13
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:21.407 1:21.112 14
16. Barrichello Honda 1:21.512 9
17. Button Honda 1:21.631 11
18. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:21.668 6
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:21.786 9
20. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:21.885 8
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FIA scraps plans to ban tyre warmers


Tyre warmers will remain in Formula One next year, autosport.com can reveal, after the FIA agreed to scrap plans to impose a ban in 2009.
The governing body had been scheduled to scrap the use of tyre blankets to coincide with the return of slicks at the start of next season in a bid to improve the racing and cut costs.
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Massa leads dominant Ferrari 1-2 in France

Felipe Massa benefited from an exhaust problem for his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to take victory in the French Grand Prix and move into the world championship lead.

Ferrari's advantage was such that Raikkonen was able to retain second despite slowing his pace for half the race, while Jarno Trulli held off McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen to claim third and take Toyota's first podium finish since Melbourne 2006.

Lewis Hamilton was hit with a second penalty when he was awarded a drive-through for cutting the Nurburgring chicane while passing Sebastian Vettel on the first lap. The McLaren driver was only able to recover to 10th.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The French Grand Prix
Magny Cours, France;
70 laps; 308.586km;
Weather: Cloudy, then light rain.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1h31:50.245
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 17.984
3. Trulli Toyota (B) + 28.250
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 28.929
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 30.512
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 40.304
7. Piquet Renault (B) + 41.033
8. Alonso Renault (B) + 43.372
9. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) + 51.021
10. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 54.538
11. Glock Toyota (B) + 57.700
12. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 58.065
13. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1:02.079
14. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1 lap
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
16. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
18. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:16.630

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Button Honda (B) 17


World Championship standings, round 8:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Massa 48 1. Ferrari 91
2. Kubica 46 2. BMW Sauber 74
3. Raikkonen 43 3. McLaren-Mercedes 58
4. Hamilton 38 4. Red Bull-Renault 24
5. Heidfeld 28 5. Toyota 23
6. Kovalainen 20 6. Williams-Toyota 15
7. Trulli 18 7. Renault 12
8. Webber 18 8. Honda 8
9. Alonso 10 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 7
12. Coulthard 6
13. Barrichello 5
14. Glock 5
15. Vettel 5
16. Button 3
17. Piquet 2
18. Bourdais 2
ref[AS]
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Kimi Raikkonen claimed Ferrari's 200th Formula One pole in French Grand Prix qualifying, leading teammate Felipe Massa in a front row sweep.

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest for McLaren, but will drop to 13th on the grid due to his penalty for hitting Raikkonen in the Montreal pits.

That will elevate Fernando Alonso (Renault) to third place, with Jarno Trulli joining him on row two after an impressive effort for Toyota.

Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen and championship leader Robert Kubica (BMW) will complete the leading three rows.

Although Massa had dominated Q1 and Q2, it was Raikkonen who took charge in Q3, claiming provisional pole on his first run.

When Massa then failed to improve sufficiently to demote his teammate, Raikkonen chose to abandon his second lap, rightly believing he was assured of pole.

Hamilton's eventual third place was a comparatively successful result after an error at the Nurburgring chicane on his first Q3 run had left him eighth - and facing a potential ninth row start. He managed to vault to third with his second flying lap and minimised the damage.

Behind Alonso, Trulli and Kovalainen, Kubica took sixth place despite struggling in the earlier parts of qualifying.

He went out for two runs in Q1 to be sure of making the cut, and then came close to being eliminated in Q2, only just hanging on to 10th at the end of the session.

The Red Bulls will start seventh and eighth, with Mark Webber ahead despite being slowed on his first Q3 lap when Trulli had a spin in his path at the 180 corner.

Timo Glock was the final Q3 qualifier in the second Toyota, and will start ninth.

Nick Heidfeld's qualifying difficulties continued, despite the BMW driver's pre-event optimism. The German was just 0.063 seconds slower than teammate Kubica in Q2, but that was the crucial difference between 10th and 12th places.

Despite topping final practice, Renault's Nelson Piquet was edged out of the Q3 positions when Coulthard made a last-gasp improvement at the end of Q2. That left Piquet back in 11th, as the Brazilian missed the Q3 cut by a scant 0.047 seconds.

Toro Rosso looked set to produce an upset after Sebastian Vettel's rapid practice times, but in qualifying the German was only able to take 13th, one place and 0.2 seconds better than teammate Sebastien Bourdais, who will start his first ever home GP from his best grid position yet.

Nico Rosberg could only manage 15th place for Williams, and will fall to the back when the penalty for his involvement in the Montreal pitlane crash is applied. His teammate Kazuki Nakajima was knocked out in Q1, where he was just 16th quickest.

The Hondas and Force Indias were slowest of all. Honda's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have lacked speed all weekend and will start 16th and 17th once Rosberg's penalty is applied, while the Force India duo trailed the field by some margin, with 19th fastest Giancarlo Fisichella over 0.6 seconds slower even than the struggling Hondas.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.133 1:15.161 1:16.449 16
2. Massa Ferrari 1:15.024 1:15.041 1:16.490 17
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.634 1:15.293 1:16.693 15
4. Alonso Renault 1:15.754 1:15.483 1:16.840 18
5. Trulli Toyota 1:15.521 1:15.362 1:16.920 19
6. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.965 1:15.639 1:16.944 18
7. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:15.687 1:15.723 1:17.037 19
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.020 1:15.488 1:17.233 18
9. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:15.802 1:15.654 1:17.426 19
10. Glock Toyota 1:15.727 1:15.558 1:17.596 24
11. Piquet Renault 1:15.848 1:15.770 12
12. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.006 1:15.786 14
13. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.918 1:15.816 17
14. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.072 1:16.045 17
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.085 1:16.235 12
16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:16.243 9
17. Button Honda 1:16.306 9
18. Barrichello Honda 1:16.330 6
19. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:16.971 10
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:17.053 9

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Raikkonen seeking fresh start at French Grand Prix

raikkonen
After going two races without scoring a point, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen is hoping to get his title defence back on track this weekend with a victory for Ferrari in the French Grand Prix.
Raikkonen retired from the last round in Canada after being hit from behind in the pit lane by McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. He also failed to score in the preceding Monaco event after losing control and colliding with Force India’s Adrian Sutil.
In fact, the Finn has not won a race since the Spanish round back in April. However, with the calendar moving from the street circuits of Monte Carlo and Montreal to the more traditional venue of Magny-Cours, Raikkonen is eager to put an end to his losing streak.
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BMW strike

kubica-montreal
Robert Kubica took the lead in the drivers' championship after scoring his and BMW Sauber's first Formula One victory, with teammate Nick Heidfeld finishing second in an astonishing Canadian Grand Prix.

The win was a remarkable way for Kubica to mark his return to Montreal, 12 months after his ferocious accident at the track.

David Coulthard claimed his first points of the season in fine style by taking third for Red Bull, ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock and Felipe Massa's Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen made a bizarre exit from the race when the McLaren crashed into the back of the Ferrari in the pitlane during a safety car period.

Prior to that incident, Hamilton had looked set for a dominant victory. He calmly pulled away from Kubica and Raikkonen in the early laps, and led by seven seconds when the caution period was called on lap 17 to retrieve Adrian Sutil's Force India, which had parked in a difficult position near Turn 3.
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Qualifying - selected driver quotes

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on scoring his second consecutive Canadian pole in spectacular style; Red Bull’s Mark Webber on crashing out of Q2; and Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel on being forced to watch the action from the garage. All 20 drivers report back from Montreal…
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (1st, Q1 - 1m 17.886s):
"To achieve pole position here in Canada at the same place where I took my first Formula One pole just one year ago is really awesome. Our car feels good and we’re really on top of our game - even though the track started breaking up in places. On my penultimate lap in the third part of qualifying I lost a bit of time when I ran wide and I knew that Robert and Kimi were chasing me so I was aware I had to give it my all. On my final lap, I found more than six tenths which was enough for pole position. Thank you to everybody in the team, I hope I will be able to reward them tomorrow with a similar result."

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (2nd, Q1 - 1m 18.498s):
"It was a very difficult qualifying with the track breaking up in some corners, which is a disaster. It was easy to make mistakes with these conditions. When you missed the racing line by just ten or 20 centimetres you were on the marbles with very low grip. However, I'm very happy with second. Certainly it will be a tough race tomorrow on this track. Unfortunately I shall not be starting on the clean side. McLaren particularly looks very strong and I shall also have pressure from the Ferrari, but we have to see who is on which strategy."
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BMW, Honda urge FIA to act on split fear

bmwsauber
By Jonathan Noble
BMW Sauber and Honda Racing believe the FIA must do something to address fears of a split within the governing body in the wake of the vote of confidence in Max Mosley earlier this week.

Although Mosley comfortably won a majority in the vote on his presidency at the General Assembly meeting in Paris, it has not stopped some clubs criticising the decision and threatening to leave the FIA completely if Mosley stays on.
And with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone calling on Mosley to resign later this year for the good of himself and the FIA, BMW Sauber and Honda Racing have expressed concern about the damage such uncertainty within the governing body can cause to F1.

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Dramatic race at Monaco

gpmonaco
Lewis Hamilton recovered from an early brush with the barriers to take a remarkable victory in a rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix and move into the world championship lead.
BMW's Robert Kubica beat pole-sitter Felipe Massa to second, despite the Ferrari driver dominating much of the race.
There was heartbreak for the hero of the race, though, as Adrian Sutil came within a few laps of taking an incredible fourth place for Force India, only to be taken out by world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Their collision allowed Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) to complete the top five.
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