page_title: 2008 French Grand Prix
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 French Grand Prix / Race
caption_attribution_description: Kimi Räikkönen driving for Scuderia Ferrari at the 2008 French Grand Prix.
context_page_description: The 2008 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 22 June 2008 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France. This race would be the last French Grand Prix for a decade, before returning in 2018 at Circuit Paul Ricard. It was the eighth race of the 2008 Formula One season. The 70-lap race was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team after starting from second position. Kimi Räikkönen, who started from pole position, finished second in the other Ferrari car; Jarno Trulli was third in a Toyota.
  Räikkönen and Massa both made a clean start. Renault's Fernando Alonso, who started third, was overtaken by Trulli and BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica. The front three of Räikkönen, Massa and Trulli maintained their positions through the first round of pit stops. On lap 30, Räikkönen led Massa by six and a half seconds, and Trulli by 30 seconds. Just before half distance, Räikkönen's right exhaust pipe broke, which caused the engine to lose power. Massa, in second place, began lapping quicker than Räikkönen, and he caught and passed him on lap 39. Massa maintained his lead through the second round of pit stops, and won the race; Räikkönen finished almost 18 seconds behind.
context_section_description: The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, although the sky was overcast; weather forecasts predicted rain near the end of the race. Most of the frontrunners began the race on the harder compound tyre. Rain that had fallen earlier that morning had removed some of the rubber on the track, meaning that graining, when small grains of rubber come off a tyre, was likely to be a problem; out of the two tyre types, the harder would better cope with this. Räikkönen made a good start, retaining his first position; Massa behind him maintained his second place. Alonso, who started third, was passed by both Trulli and Kubica, but re-passed Kubica at the hairpin turn exit. Glock also made a good start, taking sixth after passing Webber. Going into the first corner, Button touched Bourdais, resulting in damage to the Honda's front wing. Hamilton, who started 13th, passed several drivers to move into 10th by the end of lap one.
  At the end of the first lap, Räikkönen led from Massa, Trulli, Alonso, Kubica, Glock and Webber. On lap five, Hamilton overtook Kovalainen to move into ninth. On the same lap, Button was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop, due to the damage he had sustained in his first corner incident with Bourdais. This dropped him to the back of the field. By the end of lap 10, Räikkönen led Massa by 3.2 seconds, Trulli a further 8.5 seconds behind. On lap 13, Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for cutting the corner of Turn Seven on lap one, and gaining an advantage. He took the penalty immediately, and re-emerged in 13th position. Over the next few laps, the Ferrari drivers continued to pull out a gap on Trulli in third, lapping at around a second per lap quicker than the Toyota. On lap 16, Räikkönen set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:16.630, stretching his lead over his teammate. Further back, Alonso, who had been running fourth, made the first scheduled pit stop, resuming 12th. Button was lapped by several drivers, due to the damage his car had sustained in his first corner incident with Bourdais, and eventually retired on lap 17.
  On lap 20, Trulli and Kubica, then in fourth, pitted. Over the next two laps, both Räikkönen and Massa pitted. By lap 30, Räikkönen had opened his lead to 6.6 seconds over Massa, while Trulli was over half a minute behind him in third. Just before half distance, Räikkönen's pace became slower, and Massa behind him caught up, passing his teammate on lap 39. After the race, Räikkönen explained that his lack of pace was due to his car's right exhaust pipe breaking, causing the engine to lose power. Further back, Kovalainen, who was running seventh, passed Webber to take sixth.
  By lap 46, Massa had a 10-second lead over his teammate. On the same lap, Kubica pitted from fourth, starting the next round of pit stops. Trulli pitted from third on lap 50, and Räikkönen and Kovalainen two laps later. Massa pitted on lap 54, and emerged 13.4 seconds ahead of Räikkönen. Trulli kept his third position, but Kovalainen, who made up several places through the pit stops to move to fourth, was closing behind him. On lap 55, light rain started to fall. Although it would continue to rain lightly for the next few laps, it was never heavy enough to be a problem to the drivers. By lap 58, Kovalainen was right behind Trulli. A few laps later, the exhaust pipe which had broken earlier on Räikkönen's car came off completely, but Räikkönen continued to race with similar lap times. Kovalainen, meanwhile, continued to try to find a way past Trulli. One lap before the end of the race, Kovalainen attempted to pass Trulli, but ran wide as Trulli defended his position.
  Massa crossed the line to win the race, with Räikkönen nearly eighteen seconds behind. Trulli retained third, and took his first podium since the 2005 Spanish Grand Prix, and Toyota's first podium since the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. Kovalainen finished fourth, ahead of Kubica, Webber and Piquet, who took his first ever points in Formula One. Alonso, Coulthard, Hamilton, Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld and the lapped Barrichello, Nakajima, Rosberg
caption: Massa's teammate Kimi Räikkönen had to settle for second place after being slowed by an exhaust failure.
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