Fresh off his victory in the French Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen believes his Ferrari team can challenge the advantage shown by Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes, which came to France with a three-race winning streak.
McLaren had won races in Monaco, Montreal and Indianapolis entering the French Grand Prix on July 1.
“We didn’t expect to have the problems that we had in the last few races, ” Raikkonen said, “so I think we are back where we expected to be. It wasn’t that we lost something. Maybe we just didn’t get everything out of the car. Everything works well, and we will try to keep it up and improve. ”
Hamilton aims for home win: After winning the United States Grand Prix on June 17 in his McLaren-Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton finished third in the French Grand Prix. Hamilton’s next race is his home British Grand Prix on July 8 at Silverstone.
“I still think that we will be extremely competitive there, ” said rookie Hamilton, who is leading the FIA Formula One Drivers World Championship. “I know that the team is working very, very hard back at the factory to keep on improving. I know when we go to the next race we will be even quicker.
“I’m feeling fairly confident. As long as we continue with the reliability that we have, the consistency, then I don’t see why we won’t be able to fight for the win. I’m looking forward to Silverstone, as it’s my home race. It will be an extra buzz for me, and I think it will be a good weekend. ”
Streak continues: Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium in each of his eight races this year. But for the first time this season, he ended up finishing lower than he started as he qualified second and crossed the line third in the French Grand Prix.
“I keep saying that I didn’t even expect to finish on the podium in my first race, let alone eight races in the season, ” he said, “so I am very happy with the job that I have done and the job that the team have done. ”
Star attractions: Seven-time World Champion and five-time United States Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen gave French soccer star Zinedine Zidane and other guests rides around the Magny-Cours track in Ferrari sports cars to raise money for ICM, a brain and spinal cord medical foundation.
Driver fined: Officials fined Christijan Albers $6,770 for a dangerous pit exit move. Albers left his pit stall before he was cleared by his Spyker crew, and his car tore out the refueling hose that was still attached.
“The most important thing is that the guys were OK and nobody was hurt in the accident, ” Albers said. “I just made a mistake in the pits: I thought the lollipop (signal board) was going up. ”
Easy riders: AT&T Williams co-owner Patrick Head rode his motorcycle from England to Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix. He and some friends make the trip every year via a scenic route.
GP2 winners: Giorgio Pantano won the GP2 race on Saturday, June 30. Javier Villa won Sunday’s race.
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