With Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg starting the seventy lap 2008 French Grand Prix from fifteenth and twentieth positions to prospects for the race were not looking good. The team would most likely put in enough fuel for a one stop strategy and see how things turn out. But with the prospects of rain in the race it could add that unknown element to the race. It was forecast to start in around thirty minutes after the race.

With the grid forming up and moving off on their parade lap Raikkonen was leading the field. Massa was in second while Hamilton was down in thirteenth as a result of his ten place grid penalty. Hamilton was on the softer tyre while most others were on the harder tyre, with the exception of Nico.

Kimi would take his place on the grid and with the start of the race would lead from his team-mate Mass, Trulli, Kubica, and Alonso. Glock was sixth followed by Webber, Piquet and Coulthard. Kazuki was in fourteenth and Nico nineteenth. On lap two Trulli was fending off Alonso. Replays had show that Hamilton had nearly gone off going through a chicane. Hamilton was in tenth.

Lap two and a fastest lap from Kimi, 1m:17.276. Button had dropped from sixteenth to last. Hamilton was behind his team-mate Kovalainen who was in ninth. Lap four and Raikkonen was now 1.2 seconds ahead of Massa. Trulli was dropping away from Massa. Another fastest lap from Raikkonen on lap four, 1m:16.992. Nico was now 23.5 seconds behind the leaders. Button has lost his front wing after making contact with another car. He would pit on lap six getting a new nose fitted.

Hamilton had passed Kovalainen and was now attacking Piquet. Hamilton was locking up his front tyres in his attempt to pass Piquet. Lap eight and Kimi was now 2.9 seconds ahead of Massa. For the Williams drivers nothing had changed with Kazuki and Nico still in fourteenth and nineteenth. It was announced that Hamilton was under investigation for cutting a chicane earlier in the race as he passed Vettel. Lap ten and Raikkonen would set a new fastest lap, 1m:16.825. Trulli was able to pull away from fourth placed Alonso. The top eight order had not changed as Kimi again set a new fastest lap, 1m:16.667. Hamilton was stuck behind Piquet and was now thirty two seconds behind the leader.

Hamilton would pit on lap fourteen as he was given a drive through penalty for his cutting of the chicane. He would return in thirteenth. Alonso would pit from fourth on lap sixteenth as he was complaining about poor grip with his car to his engineer. Bourdais was looking to pass fourteenth placed Kazuki. Nico was still in nineteenth. Alonso was now in twelfth.

Button would pit again on lap nineteen only to retire having not made it back to his pit. Kovalainen was looking to get past seventh placed Piquet. Hamilton and Alonso would made contact as the McLaren passed the Renault. Hamilton would pit on lap twenty. Trulli would pit the next lap, joined by Kubica. Lap twenty two and Raikkonen would pit staying on the harder tyre.

Massa was now leading as Nico went a lap down. Raikkonen was now in second ahead of Webber, Piquet, Kovalainen, and Coulthard in sixth. Lap twenty four and Massa would pit from the lead. Webber would pit from third. Like Massa he would stay on the harder tyre. Webber was able to come out in front of Alonso. Lap twenty six and Piquet and Kovalainen would both pit. Kovalainen was able to pass Piquet coming out of the pits as Piquet slowed. Coulthard was next to pit on the following lap.

At the front Raikkonen was still leading from Massa, Trulli, Vettel, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, and Webber in eighth. Kazuki was in thirteenth and Nico sixteenth. Neither had yet to make their first stop. It was looking more than likely that a points scoring finish was out of the question. Nico had been running on the softer tyres in his first stint.

Vettel would pit from fourth on lap thirty, joined by Heidfeld. Both drivers would stay on the harder tyre. Kazuki was now in eleventh and Nico seventeenth. Lap thirty one and Raikkonen's lead was out to 6.6 seconds from Massa. Trulli was third followed by Kubica, Alonso, Webber, Kovalainen, and Piquet. It was looking more than likely that the Williams pair were on a one stop strategy. Fisichella would pit from fifteenth on lap thirty four.

On lap thirty three Kazuki would set a personal best of 1m:18.703 on tyres that must be way past their best. Barrichello would pit on lap thirty five leaving just Kazuki and Nico yet to pit as a few spots of rain were seen. Lap thirty six and Kazuki would be the first Williams driver to pit as Massa had closed onto Raikkonen, being just 2.2 seconds behind his team-mate. Kimi was losing huge amounts of time to Massa.

Nico would set a personal best on lap thirty seven, 1m:18.525, running in fourteenth. Kazuki was now in sixteenth. Nico was again faster on lap thirty eight, 1m:18.505, as he continued. Raikkonen would have to let Massa past on lap thirty nine as Kimi was having problems with his car. It looked like his exhaust had broken at the end and was flapping around near the bodywork of his car.

Nico was again faster on lap thirty nine, 1m:18.311. When was he going to stop? Nico would pit on lap forty one taking on the harder tyre, a 9.9 second stop. Raikkonen was now 4.2 seconds behind Massa. Trulli was in third twenty four seconds behind Kimi. Kovalainen would pass Webber for sixth at the hairpin. Kazuki was now in fifteenth and Nico nineteenth, both a lap down. Will their strategy produce a result?

Lap forty four and Alonso would pit taking on the softer tyre. He was now in twelfth. Kimi was losing time to Massa and Trulli was closing in onto the Ferrari. Hamilton was down in thirteenth. Kubica would pit on lap forty seven, taking on the softer tyre for his final stint. Hamilton would pass Alonso for twelfth at the hairpin. Kazuki and Nico were now in fourteenth and seventeenth.

Lap forty nine and Vettel and Heidfeld would pit from tenth and eleventh. Massa was now 11.4 seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Fifth placed Webber and seventh placed Glock would pit on lap fifty. The next lap would see Trulli pit from third and Piquet from fifth. Lap fifty three and Kimi would pit from second. Kovalainen would pit from third. Also in this series of pit stops were fifth placed Coulthard and seventh placed Hamilton. This round of stops would see Kubica lose out to Kovalainen who was now fourth.

Lap fifty five and Massa would pit from the lead taking on the softer tyre. Kazuki was in fourteenth and Nico seventeenth. Massa would rejoin still in the race lead only having to bring his car home now with his lead out to 13.4 seconds over Raikkonen. It was really looking like the one stop strategy from the Williams drivers was now going to produce any sort of result. Nico was now sixteenth
as Fisichella had pitted from this position.

Hamilton would pass Glock for tenth as Alonso was challenging sixth placed Webber. On lap sixty Kazuki would make a surprise second stop given that he had only stop some twenty laps ago. Third placed Trulli was been challenged by Kovalainen. Kubica was right behind the McLaren. Third place in the race was still undecided. Kazuki and Nico were now in fifteenth and sixteenth, with both drivers a lap down.

Massa was now comfortably leading with a lead of 14.9 seconds over Raikkonen. Trulli was still holding off Kovalainen with just seven laps of the race remaining. Four laps remaining and Nico was just 0.7 behind Kazuki as the fight over third continued. Trulli was still holding off Kovalainen. Kubica was in fifth followed by
Webber, Alonso, and in eighth Piquet. Kubica had dropped away from the Trulli-Kovalainen fight.

Piquet was able to pass his team-mate Alonso as Alonso ran wide at the hairpin. Piquet was now in seventh. Kovalainen would have to run wide at one of the chicanes as the pair made slight contact on the last lap. At the front Massa would cross the finish line to take victory in the 2008 French Grand Prix. Raikkonen was second followed by Trulli, Kovalainen, Kubica, Webber, Piquet, and the final point for Alonso. Pictures of Raikkonen's Ferrari showed a major area of the bodywork burnt.

For the Williams team the race would see Kazuki and Nico finish in a distant fifteenth and sixteenth. Their race strategies had failed to produce any sort of result for the team. As to why Kazuki had made the second pit stop is yet to be determined, but even so it really made little change to his result. Where to from now as the Williams team prepares for the next race in Silverstone? It comes down to a lack of pace from the FW30 which is most unlikely to be resolved in just two weeks time, so it could be more of the same.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  1h31:50.245
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    17.984
 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    28.250
 4.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    28.929
 5.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    30.512
 6.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    40.304
 7.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +    41.033
 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    43.372
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    51.021
10.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    54.538
11.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    57.700
12.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    58.065
13.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:02.079
14.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
19.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:16.630

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Button        Honda                 (B)    17