French GP - Ferrari - PreviewThe French Grand Prix has been a permanent uninterrupted fixture on the Formula 1 calendar since the World Championship began in 1950, and the first win for a car bearing the Prancing Horse emblem came two years later courtesy of Alberto Ascari.
Traditionally, this has been a successful event for the Scuderia, with a total of 16 wins on French soil, seven since 1997, including a one-two finish for
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa last year. Another more recent tradition is speculation that the Gallic race will lose its place on the calendar, but whatever opinions people hold regarding the rural out-of-the-way location of Magny-Cours, the tradition of maintaining continuity of the famous "Grandes Epreuves" is an important historical element worth preserving alongside the move to more modern venues.
Scuderia Ferrari arrives in France having picked up just a meagre ten points from the last two races. This sounds a familiar tale after the Monaco and Canada Grand Prix, which had not been strong races for the team in the past, but this year, while admitting to some minor mistakes from within the team, it's fair to say that bad luck and Safety Cars had something to do with the lack of points because car performance certainly wasn't lacking.
The frustration at failing to capitalise on the potential of the F2008 is tempered by the strengthened confidence that the team is currently moving in the right direction.
On past form, Raikkonen and Massa should be aiming for a win on Sunday. However this year, the clichés that certain circuits are "Ferrari tracks" or "McLaren tracks" for example, do not seem to hold true. While the team has worked on improving weak points which saw an upturn in performance in Monaco and Montreal, it can be assumed that Ferrari rivals will also have upped their game for the forthcoming race at Magny-Cours.
In general terms therefore, the competition has been much more closely balanced at every track this year. With performance levels so close, teams really have to do a perfect job to make the difference and this is particularly relevant on the reliability front, as has been seen in the case of BMW. The German team might not have quite the ultimate speed of the other two top teams, however they have proved that running reliably and scoring consistently can be the key factor, hence the fact that Kubica currently heads the Drivers' classification.
The Magny-Cours track has several peculiarities: it boasts an incredibly smooth surface, it is very temperature sensitive, in that an increase or decrease in temperature of just a couple of degrees can have a significant effect on tyre performance, although now that the sport is a one-make series in terms of rubber, this is less of a factor.
In a championship where one or two pit stops has become the norm, the French track does offer additional strategic possibilities as it has a very short pit lane, thus reducing the overall time taken for a stop. This fact was borne out in 2004, when
Michael Schumacher took the win, visiting the pits no less than four times! Waiting for the pit stops is not the only method of moving up the order as the hairpin and the entrance to the chicane afford a couple of genuine passing opportunities.
The target will be to see Ferrari's two drivers on the podium this Sunday afternoon.
