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Race preview: France
Topic Started: Jun 27 2007, 07:06 PM (210 Views)
dcoulthard19
Chief Engineer
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F1 heads to the magny-cours circuit for the last time ever this weekend in what overall hasn't been a much loved circuit by the fans in recent times although it has provided some memorable moments such as Jordan's win in the wet in 99 and DC giving Michael Schumacher the finger after getting chopped at the famous Adelaide Hairipin, one of the track's positive points. Getting to the circuit can be a very difficult logistic challenge for the teams as it in the middle of nowhere and for the smaller teams its especially difficult so thats challenge that the teams won't miss next season. Overall the circuit delivers a good mix of fast corners along with a few slow ones such as the Adelaide hairipin which is one of the great overtaking spots in F1. Another key feature of the track is the short length of the pit lane which contributes to some increasing tactics, alot of teams chose to go for a 3 stopper due to a lesser penalty when coming into pit and in 2004 Michael Schumacher even chose to risk a 4 stopper and made it work.

Mclaren come here as the team to beat after two back to back wins in North America, in both those races Ferrari looked off the pace but they were a little better at Indy. They have big new aero developments for this race and after a very positive test at Silverstone both Massa and Raikkonen are bullish about their chances, however Martin Whitmarsh of mclaren insists that there has been no letdown in their development either, popular opinion seems to be that Ferrari will have closed the gap this weekend but mclaren are still strong favourites for this race.

But who will win the driver in these two teams this weekend? Hamilton currently has the edge over Alonso after beating him in the last two GPs however at Indy it was especially close at the start and down the straight on lap 39, it was anyone's game but Hamilton just edged it, however as Indy is considered a bogey circuit for Fernando it wasn't an awful result for him. However Magny-Cours has been a great track for him recently, he got pole in 2004 and gave MS a good race in what was a much slower Renault, he got pole and dominated the race in 2005 and in 2006 the Ferrari package was much faster but Alonso drove a brilliant 2 stop race to split them at the flag. Hamilton has been at Magny-Cours in GP2 but it wasn't his most successful weekend, he had a poor race 1 which put him towards the back in the second race however he managed to fight back for a solid 5th place. However Hamilton has been able to learn tracks very quickly this year even if he hasn't been to them before so there is nothing to suggest that Hamilton will struggle here, it is going to be a close inter mclaren battle again which will scare the guys on the macca pit wall. In the Ferrari camp Kimi is just starting to look a bit happier, he is starting to get a better grip on the car and in Indy he was closer to Felipe Massa and also managed to bag the fastest lap of the race, he made good progress at Silverstone and is now bullish about his prospects for Magny-Cours, like the mclaren battle, the battle in Ferrari will also be close.

Behind the big two BMW will be the nearest challengers and don't rule them out breaking into the top 4 like they have done on some occassions this season, big progress is being made with the car and they are getting closer and closer, although their main priority will be get both cars in the points after failing to capatalise on their pace in Indy. This weekend though they will need to keep an eye on Renault who are now on top of their problems and are now closing in on them very fast, pace has been alot better since Monaco and in American they got a decent number of points and there is light at the end of the tunnel for them. So expect a strong challenge from them and who knows maybe even a podium.

Going furthur back the mid-pack will be as tight as ever, take your pick between Toyota, Red Bull, Williams and now also Honda who will be bringing major improvements to their car and it is likely that they will join in this really tight pack too. Torro Rosso could also join in if they get their new seamless gearbox working which will be worth alot of time to them. They could take their first huge leap forward of the season here. And don't forget Super Aguri, their pace is still pretty good too and they will be hungry to have a say.

Another factor this weekend will be the weather, it is currently very wet across north eastern Europe and wet weather is expect for this area of France throughout the GP weekend so it is likely that rain will interrupt proceedings at some point and could throw a spanner in the works in terms of the current championship order.

So lets sum up the key questions:

Can Fernando get one over Lewis in this ever tight and fascinating team battle?
Can Ferrari close in on Mclaren and spoil the party?
Can Raikkonen get ahead of Felipe Massa?
Will Renault challenge BMW and beyond?
Will Honda's new developments bring them any upturn in fortune at all?
Will rain play a part in the French GP weekend?

DC19's race prediction

1. Alonso
2. Raikkonen
3. Hamilton

plus Honda to get 8th place and their first points finish of the season.


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Red Andy
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Quote:
 
Can Fernando get one over Lewis in this ever tight and fascinating team battle?

Depends. Magny-Cours will be as good a place to do it as any, and Fernando will be fired up after a weekend off to think about what he needs to achieve in the next few races. Lewis, however, will also be raring to go, so the battle will be as close as ever.

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Can Ferrari close in on Mclaren and spoil the party?

No, even if the car has caught up in pace they still have a deficit with the drivers they have. Alonso and Hamilton are both highly motivated and will be driving out of their skins this weekend.

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Can Raikkonen get ahead of Felipe Massa?

Only on the way to the bar after the race.

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Will Renault challenge BMW and beyond?

BMW, quite probably. Ferrari and McLaren, no.

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Will Honda's new developments bring them any upturn in fortune at all?

<roflmao> <roflmao> <roflmao>
Good one.

Quote:
 
Will rain play a part in the French GP weekend?

Let's hope so. <thumbsup> Here's to another 1999!
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Shadowman
Engineer
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A third of the Circuit has a fairly large oil slick left from the red-flagged Porsche Supercup race.
As the track is still wet-ish, it may not be possible to actually dress the oil properly.

This could make the F1 race......."Interesting" especially if the rain that is forecast actually appears!
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Red Andy
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Bernie will be sending out the men with blow-dryers again to make sure the race is suitably dull that he can justify not bringing F1 to France next year.... <fu>
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Lord Tau
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Admin
I reckon there's the potential for a fair few retirements today.
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Shadowman
Engineer
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Turned out to be a very dull race!
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