Fernando Alonso scored a dominant victory in today’s French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours. In front of a capacity crowd, in 30 degree heat, the Spaniard just pulled away into the distance from the rest of the field, finally finishing an unrepresentative 11.8s ahead of second placed Kimi Raikkonen, whose two stop strategy was perfect from 13th on the grid. Michael Schumacher finished a distant third for Ferrari after being held up by Jarno Trulli during the opening stages. Teammate Rubens Barrichello suffered poor brakes and handling and finished ninth.

At the start, Alonso nipped straight into the lead from fellow-front row man Trulli, while Michael Schumacher led teammate Barrichello, followed by Takuma Sato, Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault, Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren), Jenson Button and the Saubers.

Raikkonen was already up to 10th by lap two, but the greatest impression was being left by Alonso as he disappeared at the front of the field. By lap five he had a seven second lead over Trulli. That was up to 14s by lap ten and 21s by lap 15. Behind the Toyota, Michael Schumacher was frustrated, unable to get past. He was shadowed all the way by Barrichello, although the Brazilian was already in trouble with brake problems and grip and was soon being caught by Sato. Fisichella was close by, as was Montoya and Button.

Sato was first to stop on lap 15, clearly going for a three stop strategy. Barrichello came in on lap 17 and Trulli and shadow Schumacher a lap later. Ferrari got Schumacher out ahead of the Toyota driver. Fisichella stopped a lap later as did Button, while Alonso was last of the three stoppers to come in on lap 20.

However, such was his leading margin that he still led on lap 21 by 11s from Montoya who, like third placed teammate Raikkonen, had yet to stop. Michael Schumacher was fourth on the road, now 7.5s ahead of Trulli who had Barrichello, Sato and Button close behind him. When Coulthard stopped, Fisichella took over ninth place. A heavy Alonso lost out a little to the lighter McLarens until Montoya pitted on lap 25 and Raikkonen three laps later. But when they rejoined, they were still second and third, but with Raikkonen now second and Montoya being pushed by Schumacher in third place. Trulli was still fifth from Barrichello and then Button, Fisichella and Sato who had had an off-circuit moment on lap 27.

Michael Schumacher made his second pit stop just before half distance but remained in fourth place. Teammate Barrichello made his second stop on lap 39, emerging tenth, just ahead of Coulthard. Leader Alonso made his second stop on lap 41, coming in from a 33s lead but still emerging with a margin of 13s.

Raikkonen was still second, but Montoya was fading badly in third place, suffering a hydraulic problem which lost him the power steering and then gears. He eventually pulled off on lap 47. That put Schumacher into third place, but a long way behind second placed Raikkonen. Having made his third stop on lap 51, he was closed on by Fisichella, but Raikkonen and both Renaults had pit stops to make.
 

Alonso came out of the pits on lap 58 with an 18s lead over Raikkonen, who in turn had 45s over Michael Schumacher in third and that was the way they took the chequered flag. Button was fourth and soon to be lapped but at least scored BAR’s first points of the year, while Trulli was lucky to salvage fifth after Fisichella stalled at his final pit stop and dropped a place. Ralf Schumacher was seventh from Villeneuve in eighth. Poor Barrichello finished ninth. The result simply opened up the World Championship gaps, Alonso now 24 points ahead of Raikkonen, who in turn is five ahead of Michael Schumacher. In the Constructors series, Ferrari dropped two points behind second placed McLaren, with Renault still ahead.

Jean Todt: “This was a very disappointing race. This weekend we were among the best in qualifying, but we were unable to match that in the race. Michael finished third and clearly could not have done better. The cars ahead of him were simply quicker. After just a few laps, Rubens found he had a problem with the brakes, which made his race very difficult. As the laps went by, he kept dropping down the order, ending up outside the points. We are disappointed because we hoped to be much more competitive. Now we must analyse the race, along with our technical partners, to try and understand why things did not go the way we had expected.”

Michael Schumacher: “I think third was the best I could have done today. It is true that I lost a lot of time stuck behind Trulli for eighteen laps and that meant that Montoya got past me. So, I had some problems with traffic. Without that early delay, our strategy might have put me ahead of Kimi. In fact this race was all about different drivers on different strategies, but today we did not quite match the pace of the leaders. I had one moment when I ran wide at Turn 3 and then I also came under a bit of pressure from Fisichella, when he was running lighter than me, but he never got too close.”

Rubens Barrichello: “It was a terrible race for me. After four or five laps, I began to have a problem with the brakes which meant the car was hard to drive. Then, in the first run of pit stops, I was unable to get ahead of Trulli and so I always found myself behind cars that were potentially slower than me. The brake problem got progressively worse and I kept slipping back so that I wasn’t even able to pick up a single point. I am very disappointed.”

Ross Brawn: “The first part of our race was spoilt being stuck behind Trulli. We were not competitive enough to win the race today, but Michael might have finished one place higher without that early delay. We then tried to make the best of our situation for the rest of the race. So, as always in these situations we will have to go away and see what we can do to be stronger next time. We struggled for most of the race and every time the drivers tried to push harder things became difficult. Rubens lost a lot of grip over the course of the race, whereas Michael’s car was probably a bit better balanced and he was able to do better. All in all, we have to say we were not strong enough with either car. We have not given away too many points and we will keep trying to fight back.”

Michael Schumacher: 3rd +1.21.914 70 laps chassis 245; Rubens Barrichello: 9th +1 lap 69 laps chassis 246; Temperatures: air 29/31 °C, track 41/43 °C