2008 French Grand Prix

Championship standings

Kubica leads the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career on 42 points. Hamilton and Massa are level in second and third on 38 points each. Räikkönen is fourth, Heidfeld fifth. Ferrari lead the Constructors’ on 73 points, BMW Sauber second on 70, McLaren a further 17 behind.

Previous race

Kubica took BMW Sauber’s first victory in Montreal, with Heidfeld second and Coulthard third. Hamilton, who had started from pole, crashed into the back of Räikkönen’s stationary Ferrari in the pit lane — Räikkönen had stopped at the red light at the lane exit — and both retired. Rosberg then drove into the back of Hamilton’s stricken car.

Penalties

Hamilton and Rosberg both carry ten-place grid penalties into this race for their pit-lane collisions in Canada. Whatever they qualify, neither can start better than 11th.

Background

Ferrari have won seven of the last ten French Grands Prix at Magny-Cours. Despite that record, the race has been dropped from the 2009 calendar; this is the last French Grand Prix for the foreseeable future, having been held at Magny-Cours since 1991. Massa said the circuit was no longer a clear advantage for Ferrari: “This year in Monaco, Ferrari had the whole front row of the grid, even though I think we had more fuel than McLaren, and in Canada our race pace was very good too.”

Car upgrades

BMW Sauber, Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota have all revised their front wings for this race. Ferrari’s changes aim to improve airflow through the nose-hole introduced at Spain. Williams have modified their front sidepod winglets. Red Bull revised the central section of their bridge wing — first changed at Bahrain to prevent flexing — to generate more downforce.

Practice

Massa was fastest in FP1. Very hot conditions in FP2 led to several cars running off the road; Alonso led the session, ahead of the two Ferraris. A new speed-limiting system was tested at the end of FP2. Renault showed strong pace in FP3: Piquet Jr. led the session ahead of Webber and Vettel. Ferrari and McLaren ran heavier fuel loads in the final session in preparation for qualifying.