Ferrari crush the rest

Raikkonen and Massa comfortably led home the Scuderia ahead of Hamilton and Alonso by about three-tenths of a second. Just to underline the strength of the red car both Hamilton and Alonso are thought to be three stopping whereas Ferrari will go for a more traditional two-stopper.

In the press room Hamilton was obviously disappointed. He wanted pole and to be fair he could have given the two Ferrari drivers a run for their money. On his final flying lap he made an error at turn seven that cost him three-tenths of a second. That would probably have been good enough for the front row but Kimi abandoned a lightning quick lap when Massa failed to snatch P1 at the death.

In Q1 and Q2 the Brazilian was the quicker of the two Ferrari drivers so it was somewhat of a surprise to see Kimi grab pole. Perhaps he is more au fait with a slightly heavier car or perhaps he has less fuel. Either way I'd be surprised if the Finn didn't grab 10 points.

Lewis versus Heikki

All the chatter about whether Kovalainen has the beating of Lewis Hamilton needs to be abandoned. For the fourth consecutive race the Finn has lagged his team mate. And it isn't just a tenth — try three- to four-tenths.

Why?

That Lewis has already had a year to get used to the car has to be a factor. Despite saying otherwise there is little doubt who the team's effort is behind — the Brit. However, the more likely reason is that Hamilton is a better driver than Kovalainen.

Sure he makes mistakes but who doesn't. Those who picked Kovalainen to be faster are probably looking to find cracks in the Hamilton phenomenon. Some of those cracks have already surfaced but the time comes to admit that Hamilton is bloody fast behind the wheel of a race car.

[NOTE: Since this was written it has come to light that Heikki has been given a 5 place penalty. Apparently this led to McLaren fuelling Kovi heavier than they would have wanted to. Fuel adjusted McLaren believe Heikki was quick. Maybe, but Lewis has been faster than Heikki all weekend, including in Q1 and Q2 — Kovi doesn't like this track. On another note the penalty was crazy. Webber was unaffected by the incident as he made it to Q3 and Heikki was left with nowhere to do. McLaren vendetta anyone???]

On a slight aside all this chat of Alonso being the number one driver in F1 amuses me. Yes he is quick but don't forget how badly he was rattled by a rookie last year. And claims that McLaren were favouring Hamilton back then don't ring true. If Alonso is the best driver in the sport then Lewis is a very very very close second, but I suspect come the end of their careers Lewis will be seen as the superior pilot.

BMW BMW BMW

What is up with BMW this weekend? After an impressive one-two in Canada the Hinwil-based outfit could only register eighth and twelfth. Indeed it was touch and go whether Heidfeld would even get out of Q1!

The Beemers haven't looked their usual selves this weekend, which is a worry given that Magny Cours is more typical of the upcoming circuits than, say, Montreal would be. The high-speed aero performance is missing and the car just can't get the mechanical grip through the tight corners.

Compared to Ferrari BMW is losing five-tenths or so through S3, which is mostly down to pace through the final chicane where to eek out maximum speed the driver must attack the kerbs.

It really is damage limitation this weekend — if Kubica can reach into the top four that would be seen as a success and he should keep his championship lead intact.

Other news

The Piquet woes are well documented but it is worth nothing that another rookie, Timo Glock, is also struggling. Again Glock was comprehensively out qualified by Jarno Trulli. Trulli was faster than Kovalainen in all three qualifying session — that says more about the pace of Heikki than the pace of Trulli. Don't be surprised to see Glock join Piquet in A1GP next year.

Perhaps the most disappointing peformance was from Honda. Both drivers failed to make it past the first session and despite some good drives early in the season the Japanese team are slowly settling at the back end of the grid.

With the Super Aguri team leaving F1 it is the Force Indias that perennially take the last two grid slots. At least all the chatter of making Q2 has disappeared — when reality bites it's painful.