K.Raikkonen: 1° 1.16.449 5 laps chassis 270F.Massa: 2° 1.16.490 6 laps chassis 267Weather: air temperature 29/31 °C, track temperature 40/43 °C, sunny then covered skies.
"There could be no better way of celebrating Ferrari's two hundredth pole position than with an all-red front row of the grid in the French Grand Prix: quickest in Q3 was Kimi Raikkonen, who thus recorded his second pole of the season and the sixteenth of his career. Alongside the World Champion will be Felipe Massa. This means that Ferrari has taken five poles from the first eight qualifying sessions of the season: three with Felipe and two with Kimi.
"We are very happy with this result," commented the Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali. "It is very satisfying to have notched up our two hundredth pole, but we must not rest on our laurels. It's the championship points that count and they get handed out after the race. It's true that this gives us the best possible start, but we will have to watch every last detail if we want to bring home maximum points. On top of that, the weather forecast is very uncertain, with a chance that it could worsen just as the race is on."
Felipe Massa: "It was a good qualifying, especially the first two parts. In the third one, maybe I went a bit over the limit to try and get out all the potential from the car and I lost enough time to prevent me from doing better. However, I am happy, because we have everything in place to pick up important points for the championship. The F2008 is very competitive on this type of track and we worked in the right direction in terms of fine tuning it. Tyre choice for qualifying was not easy but so far, we have been able to be strong in all conditions. I am happy that the team recorded its two hundredth pole position today and it's an honour for me to have made a small contribution to this milestone."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am very happy with this result, not just for myself but above all for the team. It is a pleasure to have taken Ferrari's two hundredth pole even if, at the moment, I have only played a small part in the history of Scuderia. So far, the weekend is going really well but of course we have yet to tackle the most important part which is the race, where anything could happen. The car has always been well balanced and, at least as far as the first lap is concerned, the performance of the two tyres is pretty similar, while the harder compound seems to do better over a long distance. If I was not to win, I would obviously be a bit disappointed, but the most important thing is to finish and bring home the maximum number of points, because we really need them."
Luca Baldisserri: "A great qualifying, with both cars running troublefree throughout. So far, we have tackled this race weekend in the best way possible, but we know what really counts is the race. Strategy, tyre performance, the work of the drivers and team and, above all, reliability: these will be as usual the key factors. Added to these will be the weather. If it was to rain, we will need to be sharp to react to the various situations that could develop during the race."
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