Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  To kick things off this morning we have a recap of the F1 race that transpired at Magny-Cours over the weekend.  As usual, if you have the race TIVO'd and plant on catching it later, read no further; otherwise, keep reading for a quick recap of what transpired at the event.

In qualifying, it was a mixed bag for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team.  For the fourth time in a row, Lewis Hamilton managed to start from the front row of the grid; Fernando Alonso, however, didn't fare quite as well, starting the race in 10th.

When the race started, Hamilton fell back one place into third behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, while Alonso managed to work his way up by the end of the opening lap into eighth. On lap 16, Hamilton entered the pits for his first refueling stop, followed immediately by Alonso. Upon resuming, the two drivers held the seventh and ninth positions, respectively.

By lap 23, Lewis was again running in third, trailing Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Raikkonen. Meanwhile, Alonso battled Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault and Nick Heidfeld of BMW, overtaking both to move into fifth place.  On lap 37, Lewis entered the pits for the second time followed one lap later by Alonso, after which Lewis still held third while Alonso fell back into ninth.

On lap 51, Lewis, who had managed to close the gap between himself and the two Ferraris ahead of him to about 4 seconds, made his third and final stop, resuming the race in third.  After 70 laps, Lewis maintained his position and took another podium finish; Alonso finished the race in seventh.

To read more about the race including both driver and team interviews, keep reading for the official press detailing this weekend's festivities.

Enjoy.










OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


F1 Magny-Cours: Lewis Hamilton third, Fernando Alonso seventh

Magny-Cours, Jul 01, 2007
The start: For the fourth time in a row, Lewis started the race from the front row of the grid. He lost one place to Kimi Räikkönen at the start and returned third from the opening lap. Following a gearbox problem in qualifying, Fernando started 10th and was eighth after the first time round.

The race: On the second lap, Fernando overtook Nico Rosberg’s Williams Toyota and was seventh. Afterwards, he attacked Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber). On lap 16, Lewis made his first refuelling stop in 7.4sec, followed immediately by Fernando who was stationary for 7.9sec. Lewis resumed in seventh place and Fernando in ninth.

On lap 23, Lewis was again third behind Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Räikkönen, Fernando improved to seventh. On lap 32, the Spaniard overtook Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) and two laps later he passed Heidfeld to take fifth place. On lap 37, Lewis pitted for the second time (6.3sec), followed by Fernando (9.9sec) one lap later. Lewis remained third and Fernando dropped again to ninth.

Lewis was now faster than the two Ferraris ahead of him and closed the gap to about 4sec; however, he came in for a third routine stop on lap 51 (6.5sec) and remained third. Fernando was seventh.

After 70 laps, Lewis finished the race in third position. Fernando came home seventh.


Lewis Hamilton:
“I’m pleased to have finished third today and have continued my run of podium finishes in Formula 1. I didn’t have the best start and I don’t know exactly what the reason was. My car was very good in the opening stage of the race, and I pushed hard to get past Kimi, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. We opted for a three-stop strategy. I am happy for my team as we are still heading both the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings. We will now focus on the British Grand Prix next week where I think we will be competitive again. I am confident for a better weekend at my home Grand Prix as everybody in the team has worked very hard for this, as we do for every race.”

Fernando Alonso
“I did the maximum I could today, but we knew it would be difficult starting 10th with a fuel strategy that was originally aiming for a top three grid position. This meant that at the pit stops I was always changing positions and ending up behind those I have already passed. The fight with Nick Heidfeld was fun, but it was a lot of hard work. I also made a good move on Giancarlo. I am contesting the World Championship, so I had to do whatever I could today and was not worried about the risks. It is a disappointing result, but we will have to look to improve next week, where we should be strong.”

Ron Dennis, Team Principal
“A difficult race. Both drivers put in solid performances, and particularly Fernando, who for me was the man of the race with his various battles against Heidfeld and Fisichella. We had the option of switching between a two or three-stop strategy for Lewis, and we opted for the latter to ensure that he had minimal traffic and maintained his strong and safe third position. Fernando’s race was always going to be challenging starting from 10th, but our aim was to score points, which he did. However it is clear that we were not as competitive as we hoped, but coming to our home Grand Prix in Silverstone next weekend, we are still leading both World Championships and we will be strong there.”

Norbert Haug, Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Lewis put in a good race finishing third and taking his eighth consecutive podium position in as many races this season. Fernando had some quite spectacular battles with Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella, which the fans surely enjoyed. He finally came home seventh. Ferrari was better today which means that we have to further improve. Halfway though the season Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is leading both World Championships, with Lewis and Fernando heading up the Driver’s ranking. We all will work extremely hard to keep it that way in the second half until after Sao Paulo. Now we are looking forward to the next two races, our home Grands Prix at Silverstone and at the Nürburgring.”

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