German Car Zone

Heikki Kovalainen will move five places down the French Grand Prix grid.

The McLaren driver qualified just sixth at the Magny-Cours circuit on Saturday, but stewards adjudged that he should be penalised for travelling too slowly on an in-lap and holding up Mark Webber.

Both McLaren drivers were penalised for a similar infringement at the close of qualifying in Malaysia earlier this year.


The five place penalty puts Kovalainen, a Finn, 11th on the grid, two places ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for his Montreal crash two weeks ago.


was it worth punishing him? IMO, he did he's best to get outta the way. wrong place wrong time.

This quals was a painfully serious reality check for BMW-Sauber.

They have that 107% rule I think.

Kova needs to get his act together. He's doing nothing to collect constructors points, let alone help Hamilton. Either way it looks like a Ferrari 1-2. It's early to say where Hamilton will land since we don't know what strategy he's on. Luckily he'll be starting with Heikki and Heidfeld right in front of him. For Hamilton there's no easier way to overtake cars than right off the line. I'm confident he'll score points tomorrow.

I just discovered that Hamilton is going to be in a Torro Rosso sandwich between Vettel and Sebass. That is absolutely dangerous because those drivers are known for wrecking themselves and other drivers in the very first lap. So the risk of Hamilton getting taken out in the first corner is 60-70%. He will have to be very very careful and be quick to pass them in order to distance himself from the danger.

nope. they scrapped that rule a few years ago.

yes, and Hammi's pretty sloppy when he's behind or when he can't seem to find he's way around anyone. if he doesn't get teh jump on Vettel, could be game over for him. Vettel is one of the most difficult person to overtake on the grid.

Kimi earns Ferrari’s 200th pole position at Magny-Cours

Ferrari was back to form during qualifying for this weekend’s Magny-Cours with Kimi Raikkonen earning Ferrari’s 200th pole position and team mate Felipe Massa coming in just a hair length behind. Raikkonen put in a lap of 1m 16.449s compared to Massa’s 1m 16.490s. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton took third position but will start ten places back because of the Montreal crash penalty. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen has also been pushed back, forced to start at 10th position after being 6th fastest following the decision by stewards that he drove slowly on an out-lap and held up Mark Webber. Read on the full team-by-team summary.

Ferrari
On low fuel, Felipe Massa is the fastest man at Magny-Cours, but in Q3 race trim, Kimi Raikkonen snatched Ferrari’s 200th pole by the barest of margins. Massa, who hurt his neck earlier this weekend in what he describes as a “stupid” elevator incident, said he overdrove in Q3.
McLaren-Mercedes
McLaren is not quite on Ferrari’s pace at Magny-Cours, but Lewis Hamilton’s P3 becomes P13 after his ten-position Montreal crash penalty. “I have to apologize to the team for making a couple of errors on my final runs in Q3,” he said. Heikki Kovalainen has been consistently a few tenths further back here, and his P6 becomes P10, after stewards ruled that he drove slowly on an out-lap and held up Mark Webber. He called the events leading up to the Webber incident, also involving Kazuki Nakajima, a “mix-up”.
Renault
As at the recent Barcelona test, Nelson Piquet sampled life atop a F1 timesheet on Saturday morning at Magny-Cours. He has been closer to Fernando Alonso all weekend in France, but reality set in for qualifying and he just missed the Q3 cut. Alonso’s impressive P4 becomes P3 on the grid after Hamilton’s penalty. “The car has really improved and so for the first time this season we have the real chance to fight for the podium,” the Spaniard said.
Toyota
Both Toyotas in the exclusive top ten, with Jarno Trulli - despite a Q3 spin - the standout performer. His P5 becomes P4 on the grid after Hamilton’s penalty. “I didn’t expect to be this quick,” he said.
BMW-Sauber
The morning timesheet gave a hint: despite the Montreal one-two, BMW-Sauber is not looking as strong as usual this weekend. Nick Heidfeld struggled the most and couldn’t make it to Q3, but even championship leader Robert Kubica is just P7, albeit P5 after the McLaren drivers’ penalties.
Red Bull-Renault
The signs were not good on Friday, but Mark Webber was as high as P2 in the morning practice session, and P8 - becoming P6 after the McLaren drivers’ penalties - in qualifying. David Coulthard is the next man on the grid.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel’s sensational practice speed continued with his P3 in the morning, netting him 13th on the grid - which becomes 12th thanks to Hamilton’s penalty - and his teammate Sebastien Bourdais also broke through the Q2 barrier. “I can’t say I’m angry not to make Q3,” Vettel said, “but I am disappointed.”
Williams-Toyota
Nico Rosberg looked quick in the morning, but he went no further in qualifying after making it through Q1, and his P15 puts him dead last on the grid with his Montreal penalty factored in. “To be so far off the pace is surprising,” he said. Nakajima failed to make it through P1.
Honda
Another dreadful showing by the Japanese giant: similar pace from both drivers, but faster only than the Force India cars. ‘Character-building’ was how the team’s official post-qualifying document described it. “There is no more to come from the car,” Rubens Barrichello said.
Force India-Ferrari
The Silverstone built racers are the slowest at Magny-Cours: a full sixth tenths behind the next slowest cars - the woeful Hondas - in the decisive session, but shuffled up a place each due to Rosberg’s Montreal penalty. “It was a difficult qualifying session for us as the whole field is very close,” said Fisichella, marginally quicker than Adrian Sutil.
motorauthority

Wow... BMW just ****ed big time in the pits.

Kubica and Trulli pitted at the same time with the same fuel load for the first stop.

Why the hell did they bring Kubica in so early! Not only did he end up far from trullli (to whom he was stuck to prior to pitting) but also lost a spot to Kovalainen!

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