2007 French Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Kimi Räikkönen revived his championship challenge with victory at Magny-Cours, using his pit-stop strategy to beat team-mate Felipe Massa. Ferrari’s first one-two of the season pushed Lewis Hamilton into third at the French Grand Prix.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Pole time	1:15.034
Fastest lap	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:16.099 on lap 42
First	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Second	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
29 June 2007	Practice 1	10:00
29 June 2007	Practice 2	14:00
30 June 2007	Practice 3	11:00
30 June 2007	Qualifying	14:00
1 July 2007	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 8 leading the 2007 F1 World Championship on 58 points, with Fernando Alonso on 48. McLaren headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 106 points.

Race entries

Robert Kubica returned to BMW Sauber after missing Indianapolis, with Sebastian Vettel resuming his reserve role. Nick Heidfeld suffered back discomfort during practice but continued through the weekend. The other teams retained their race pairings.

Free Practice

Ferrari led Friday morning with Kimi Räikkönen ahead of Felipe Massa, while Lewis Hamilton lost running when his engine cut-out system activated. Williams assessed aerodynamic updates and Toro Rosso ran its new seamless gearbox. Robert Kubica was back in action after his injury lay-off, but the large gap from Ferrari to McLaren was still difficult to interpret before the teams’ programmes became clearer.

Felipe Massa headed another Ferrari one-two in the afternoon, despite off-track moments for both drivers. Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi put Toro Rosso third and fifth, with Lewis Hamilton between them. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Anthony Davidson collided as the Super Aguri left its garage, Mark Webber stopped with transmission trouble, and Nick Heidfeld’s back pain complicated BMW Sauber’s preparations.

Lewis Hamilton responded on Saturday morning by narrowly beating Felipe Massa, restoring McLaren to the head of the order. Fernando Alonso lost much of his session to a faulty brake sensor and finished eighth. Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella ran fourth and fifth, while Nick Heidfeld continued despite the discomfort that had interrupted his Friday.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2007 French Grand Prix FP1, 29 June 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:15.382	22
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.065s	22
3	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+0.772s	19
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.832s	24
5	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.886s	24
6	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.895s	20
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+0.956s	25
8	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+1.025s	23
9	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.059s	19
10	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.221s	26
11	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+1.513s	32
12	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+1.585s	22
13	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.608s	25
14	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.665s	24
15	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+1.721s	33
16	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+1.784s	26
17	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+1.786s	26
18	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.844s	20
19	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+1.966s	21
20	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+2.053s	26
21	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	+2.796s	28
22	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+3.037s	15

Free Practice 2 Classification

2007 French Grand Prix FP2, 29 June 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:15.453	38
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.035s	28
3	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+0.320s	21
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.327s	36
5	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+0.499s	40
6	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.505s	36
7	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.550s	39
8	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+0.596s	32
9	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+0.709s	25
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+0.731s	41
11	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+0.752s	43
12	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+0.783s	42
13	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+0.807s	38
14	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+0.832s	46
15	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+0.942s	43
16	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.109s	17
17	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+1.282s	40
18	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.497s	47
19	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.515s	18
20	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+1.712s	49
21	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+2.760s	32
22	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	+3.255s	9

Free Practice 3 Classification

2007 French Grand Prix FP3, 30 June 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:14.843	8
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.063s	16
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.433s	15
4	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+0.561s	19
5	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+0.646s	20
6	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+0.692s	20
7	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.892s	18
8	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+0.899s	4
9	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+0.958s	19
10	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.959s	15
11	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+1.029s	22
12	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.059s	16
13	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+1.082s	20
14	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+1.101s	22
15	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.217s	18
16	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.259s	19
17	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+1.261s	16
18	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	+1.318s	18
19	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+1.378s	18
20	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.730s	14
21	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+2.674s	21
22	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	+2.862s	23

Qualifying

Felipe Massa took pole by 0.070 seconds from Lewis Hamilton, who had led both earlier knockout stages. Kimi Räikkönen qualified third ahead of the returning Robert Kubica, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen giving Renault a strong third row. Small mistakes cost both Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen time on their final attempts.

Fernando Alonso’s gearbox trouble prevented a timed lap in Q3 and left him tenth. David Coulthard also suffered gearbox problems in Q2, while both Hondas missed the final shootout despite feeling progress from their updated car. Takuma Sato’s ten-place penalty from the United States Grand Prix put him at the back.

Qualifying Classification

2007 French Grand Prix Qualifying, 30 June 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:15.303	1:14.822	1:15.034	18
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:14.805	1:14.795	1:15.104	18
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:14.872	1:14.828	1:15.257	19
4	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:15.778	1:15.066	1:15.493	22
5	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:16.047	1:15.227	1:15.674	25
6	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	1:15.524	1:15.272	1:15.826	25
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:15.783	1:15.149	1:15.900	23
8	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:16.118	1:15.379	1:15.935	23
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:16.092	1:15.331	1:16.328	25
10	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:15.322	1:15.084	No time	7
11	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:15.760	1:15.534	—	12
12	7	Jenson Button	Honda	1:16.113	1:15.584	—	12
13	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:16.140	1:15.761	—	12
14	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:15.746	1:15.806	—	11
15	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	1:15.980	1:16.049	—	12
16	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:15.915	No time	—	9
17	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	1:16.142	—	—	6
18	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	1:16.241	—	—	7
19	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	1:16.244	—	—	6
20	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	1:16.366	—	—	5
21	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	1:17.826	—	—	6
22	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	1:17.915	—	—	5

Fernando Alonso did not set a lap time in Q3 because of a gearbox issue.

David Coulthard did not record a time in Q2 due to a gearbox problem.

Takuma Sato was given a drive-through penalty for passing Jenson Button under yellow flags at the United States Grand Prix but retired from the race before he could serve the penalty, so the penalty was changed to a ten-place grid penalty at this event.

What happened in the 2007 French Grand Prix?

Felipe Massa led away and Kimi Räikkönen passed Lewis Hamilton into the first corner, establishing Ferrari’s one-two immediately. Anthony Davidson and Vitantonio Liuzzi collided, while Jarno Trulli hit Heikki Kovalainen at the Adelaide hairpin and retired. Fernando Alonso began working forward from tenth, although traffic made his recovery much harder than a clear run at the front.

Kimi Räikkönen stayed out longer than Felipe Massa at the second round of stops and used those extra laps to emerge ahead. Lewis Hamilton’s three-stop approach could not dislodge the Ferraris. Fernando Alonso battled past Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella on track but lost out again through the stops, while Christijan Albers retired after driving away with the refuelling hose still attached.

Kimi Räikkönen led Felipe Massa home, with Lewis Hamilton third and Robert Kubica fourth on his return. Giancarlo Fisichella, Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso followed, and Jenson Button took eighth for his first point of the season. Ferrari’s revival gave Kimi Räikkönen his first win since Melbourne and brought fresh momentum to the title fight.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 64 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 50. McLaren led the constructors’ table on 114, with Ferrari on 89.

2007 French Grand Prix race results

The 2007 French Grand Prix was held on 1 July 2007, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	1:30:54.200	10
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+2.414	8
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	70	+32.153	6
4	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	70	+41.727	5
5	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	70	+48.801	4
6	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	+51.940	3
7	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	70	+56.516	2
8	7	Jenson Button	Honda	70	+58.885	1
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	70	+1:08.505	0
10	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	69	+1 lap	0
11	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	69	+1 lap	0
12	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	69	+1 lap	0
13	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	69	+1 lap	0
14	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	69	+1 lap	0
15	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	69	+1 lap	0
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	68	+2 laps	0
17	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	68	+2 laps	0
Ret	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	55	Gearbox	0
Ret	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	28	Refuelling accident	0
Ret	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	1	Collision	0
Ret	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1	Collision	0
Ret	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	0	Collision	0

Adrian Sutil started the race from the pitlane.

2007 French Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	42	1:16.099	208.670
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	20	1:16.207	208.374
3	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	36	1:16.495	207.590
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	39	1:16.587	207.340
5	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	70	1:16.703	207.027
6	7	Jenson Button	Honda	70	1:16.770	206.846
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	70	1:16.875	206.563
8	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	68	1:16.966	206.319
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	69	1:17.011	206.199
10	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	44	1:17.153	205.819
11	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	69	1:17.206	205.678
12	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	68	1:17.220	205.641
13	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	69	1:17.240	205.587
14	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	69	1:17.249	205.563
15	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	68	1:17.447	205.038
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	39	1:17.796	204.118
17	19	Scott Speed	Toro Rosso	51	1:17.934	203.757
18	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	27	1:18.091	203.347
19	21	Christijan Albers	Spyker	27	1:18.955	201.122

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2007 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2007 French Grand Prix.

2007 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	64
2	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	50
3	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	47
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	42
5	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	30
6	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	17
7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Renault	16
8	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Renault	12
9	Alexander Wurz	Austrian	Williams	8
10	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	7
11	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	5
12	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull Racing	4
13	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri	4
14	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	2
15	Ralf Schumacher	German	Toyota	2
16	Jenson Button	British	Honda	1
17	Sebastian Vettel	German	BMW Sauber	1
18	Scott Speed	American	Toro Rosso	0
19	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	0
20	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri	0
21	Adrian Sutil	German	Spyker	0
22	Christijan Albers	Dutch	Spyker	0
23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Toro Rosso	0

2007 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	McLaren	114
2	Ferrari	89
3	BMW Sauber	48
4	Renault	28
5	Williams	13
6	Toyota	9
7	Red Bull Racing	6
8	Super Aguri	4
9	Honda	1
10	Toro Rosso	0
11	Spyker	0

2007 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2007 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	18 March
2	2007 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	8 April
3	2007 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	15 April
4	2007 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
5	2007 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
6	2007 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
7	2007 United States Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis	17 June
8	2007 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	1 July
9	2007 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
10	2007 European Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	22 July
11	2007 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	5 August
12	2007 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	26 August
13	2007 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	2007 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	16 September
15	2007 Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	30 September
16	2007 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	7 October
17	2007 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	21 October