F1 Magny-Cours: Lewis Hamilton third, Fernando Alonso seventh
Muamer Hodzic July 2, 2007
This weekend didn’t really work out for the Mclaren Team, as they finished the race in 3rd and 7th place. Hamilton fell back to third place right at the start, being overtaken by Raikkonen. Alonso started out from the 10th, but he did manage to advance 3 place. Overall it was disappointing for the Mclaren team, for whatever reason, they were not able to repeat the success that they had in Canada and the US.
One of the exiting parts of the race was the cat fight between Alonso and Heidfeld, where Alson won the battle, but later Heidfeld still won the war by finishing on 5th place. The other interesting scene was when the driver of the Spyker, Christijan Albers, drove out of the pit with half of the refueling station and put his whole team in danger.
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 Rà¤ikkà¶nen 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 Rà¤ikkà¶nen, 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.”
