Ferrari's Massa triumphs in Magny-Cours to lead title race
Sunday, 22 Jun 2008 22:17
Felipe Massa has won three grand prixs this season
Felipe Massa has won the Magny-Cours grand prix to throw the championship race wide open.
Brazilian Massa finished ahead of Ferrari team-mate Kiki Raikkonen who lost the lead after exhaust problems, while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished tenth.
Jarno Trulli was third for Toyota while Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was fourth.
The result means Massa now leads the drivers' championship and is ten points clear of Hamilton.
After his disastrous race in Montreal a fortnight ago, Hamilton's problems continued in France. The Briton, starting from 13th on the grid, was given a drive-through penalty for cutting the Nurburgring chicane when passing Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
World champion Raikkonen made a blistering start and was five seconds clear of Massa when he pitted on lap 21.
The Finn increased his lead to six seconds by lap 30 when his right-hand exhaust cracked at half-distance, forcing him to surrender the lead to his Ferrari team-mate.
In contrast to the Ferraris, Hamilton looked well off the pace and narrowly avoided another disaster when he smashed into the back of Sebastien Bourdais when overtaking the Frenchman.
Sauber's Robert Kubica finished fifth ahead of Red Bull driver Mark Webber David Coulthard finished ninth for Red Bull while Honda' Jenson Button crashed out on lap 54.
The British drivers will be hoping for better luck on home patch at Silverstone on July 6th.