French GP Practice 1: Kimi top as Ferrari dominates

Ferrari ace Kimi Raikkonen relieved some of the pressure on him to revive his form as he lead a dominant Ferrari 1-2 in the first free practice for the French Grand Prix.

Having arrived in France confident of improvements to the F2007 following a promising test at Silverstone, the Finn proved uncatchable at Magny-Cours on Friday morning despite the very best efforts of his team-mate Felipe Massa.

Lewis Hamilton's Magny-Cours weekend on the other hand got off to the worst possible start when the engine protection system on his McLaren-Mercedes switched itself off, stranding him out on the track on only his third lap.

It took the team more than half an hour to get the car back to the pits and the world championship leader back out on track.

Fernando Alonso was third fastest, but some 0.772s slower than Raikkonen's Ferrari.

Results

Pos Driver Team Time Behind Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.382 22
2. Massa Ferrari 1:15.447 + 0.065 22
3. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.154 + 0.772 19
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.214 + 0.832 24
5. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:16.268 + 0.886 24
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.277 + 0.895 20
7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.338 + 0.956 25
8. Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:16.407 + 1.025 23
9. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:16.441 + 1.059 19
10. Trulli Toyota 1:16.603 + 1.221 26
11. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.895 + 1.513 32
12. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.967 + 1.585 22
13. Barrichello Honda 1:16.990 + 1.608 25
14. Button Honda 1:17.047 + 1.665 24
15. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.103 + 1.721 33
16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.166 + 1.784 26
17. R.Schumacher Toyota 1:17.168 + 1.786 26
18. Fisichella Renault 1:17.226 + 1.844 20
19. Kovalainen Renault 1:17.348 + 1.966 21
20. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.435 + 2.053 26
21. Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.178 + 2.796 28
22. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.419 + 3.037 15