Michelin says "Oui" to France
Grand Prix of France

By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

Formula One desperately needed to put on a good show this weekend when they returned to Europe and prove that they really do have their act together after the fiasco that happened at Indy. And it seems as if they've pulled it off. And it was a good thing, because the track is in Michelin and Renault's back yard and the French don't like to screw up at home on global TV.

Fernando Alonso made it look easy on paper winning from pole, but you need to pay more attention to what Kimi Räikkönen did after being penalized for his McClunker having another McSmoker on Friday and needing an engine swap. After starting thirteenth, the Iceman drove a superb strategy of a two stop race and was the only one that came close to challenging Flabio's favorite son. Had the McLaren started in third place, there is a good chance that he would have won. But this being racing, "what if" doesn't mean anything and 20 years from now, people will just look at the final standings.

Michael Schumacher started off the race making the Ferrari look like a more evenly matched package to the front runners, but it just didn't happen today. Everyone up and down the pit lane is speculating that the Bridgestone tires are more conservative than the Michelin and while they will last a race (even with high speed banking), they just don't push the limits like the French rubber does. While points are points, Michael's third place didn't maintain the gap on either McLaren or Kimi, so the Scuderia still has its work cut out for them.

Oh, my gosh, would you look here? Jenson Button actually finished in the points. So much for my theory that he didn't want to score points to get out of his contract early. The BAR-Honda seemed to be quick, but the car is definitely not up to front-running speed. It does seem that the team is developing the car after the technical setback with the questionable fuel tank from earlier in the season. And if you are a Honda executive, you're happy that your driver did finish ahead of the Toyotas, even if you were a lap down.

Both Toyotas finished in the points allowing the Japanese behemoth to save face and show that they're not out of it. Jarno Trulli put in a stronger performance and finished in fifth place, with a medically released Ralf Schumacher finishing another two places back. The two red and white cars were separated by the bad luck magnet for Renault who is showing that the car is not perfect and you still need someone that knows what they are doing to get the most out of it.

The last point of the day went to Jacques Villeneuve. Big deal. His performance compared to Massa's, probably means that he will not be returning to the team when BMW takes over completely next year. BMW's announcement also coincided with a dismal performance of the current BMW-Williams team. I think there were too many engineers that were tired of writing emails to Sir Frank's team in English because they lost the war. By going with the Swiss-based team, there is less of a clash of cultures. Both of the Williams cars were way the hell back.

As for the rest, Juan Pablo Montoya didn't make it to the end, which did allow Michael to get the last spot on the podium. Rubens had a lousy day with a car that was not very drivable. Both Minardis had tire trouble blamed on not putting the valve stem caps on, meaning once again Paul Stoddard is probably trying to get in the middle of the politics. And everyone else? Well, who cares at the end of the day?

What was interesting was the meeting of the FIA on the Wednesday before the race. All seven of the Michelin runners were called to the carpet in Paris and asked to explain themselves. The FIA ruled that the teams were guilty of not being in possession of suitable tires for the event, but with strong mitigating circumstances, and of wrongfully refusing to allow their cars to start the race. And rather than issue punishment after the meeting, the FIA will do that on September 14, with jokes now going around that they'll have to wait until then to figure out how many points to take away to allow Ferrari to win. In any case, the fans aren't happy yet.

The lawsuits in the USA are still in full swing and we don't have news as to whether Indy will host next year's race, yet. That fight isn't over.

The fight for the championships will continue this weekend when the circus goes to Silverstone. At least the English teams will have a light travel week.