| At the completion of Sunday's French | | | | defend his third place position from |
| Grand Prix, Felipe Massa walked away the | | | | Heikki Kovalainen. Kovalainen nearly |
| victor. The win was his third for the | | | | overtook Trulli late in the race. |
| 2008 season and granted him the lead in | | | | Trulli said he enjoyed doing that and it |
| the championship race. The final | | | | is what he wants to be doing, when asked |
| standings included Massa, Raikkonen, | | | | about the near-miss with Kovalainen. "I |
| Trulli, Kovalainen, Kubica, Webber, | | | | don't think we touched, just |
| Piquet and Alonso. Massa followed fellow | | | | wheel-to-wheel like we did in |
| Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, | | | | go-karting. I'd love to fight every race |
| maintaining second position through more | | | | like that," he said. Trulli dedicated |
| than half of the race. The Ferrari team | | | | his third place win to Toyota's former |
| kept a grip on the top two positions for | | | | team boss, Ove Andersson who was killed |
| the duration of the race. Raikkonen's | | | | in a rally accident the week before the |
| car suffered from a cracked exhaust that | | | | race. |
| caused him to drop from first position | | | | Barcelona winner Robert Kubica completed |
| to second. | | | | the race in fifth position. Although |
| "I just kept losing power and then it | | | | Massa is now leading the championship |
| came back. A few more laps and I don't | | | | chase, Kubica is still a close second. |
| think I would have finished the race," | | | | For Red Bull driver Mark Webber, the |
| Raikkonen revealed the extent of his | | | | French Grand Prix also proved to be the |
| problems after the race. He continued | | | | most competitive race of his 2008 |
| with, "I had a good car all weekend, was | | | | season. He was hard pressed to hold off |
| easily on the poll, but then I have a | | | | Nelson Piquet Jr. and Fernando Alonso |
| problem with the car. I almost stopped a | | | | for his sixth position win. Piquet |
| few times at the end." Raikkonen is | | | | finished in seventh, and his team mate |
| happy he received eight points for his | | | | Alonso came in eighth. |
| second-place win, keeping him in the | | | | McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, began |
| running for the championship. | | | | the race at a disadvantage because of an |
| In a post race interview Massa said, | | | | accident involving Raikkonen in the pits |
| "Sometimes you need a bit of luck, and | | | | during the last race. Hamilton was |
| we got that with Kimi's exhaust. It was | | | | penalized 10 grid positions and |
| a good present." He went on to say, "It | | | | completed the French Grand Prix in 10th |
| was a great race. We showed our | | | | position behind David Coulthard. |
| performance here, we are heading in the | | | | Hamilton is now 10 points behind Massa |
| right direction, with the team doing a | | | | in championship standings. |
| fantastic job." The win and second | | | | Massa is the first Brazilian to lead the |
| position place were welcomed victories | | | | championship chase since 1993's winner, |
| for the Ferrari team. | | | | Ayrton Senna. Massa currently has 48 |
| Toyota team driver Jarno Trulli | | | | points. Kubica is only two points behind |
| completed the race in third position, | | | | at 46, with Raikkonen trailing with 43 |
| the first podium placement finish for | | | | points. Hamilton is still in the running |
| the Toyota team since 2006. Trulli may | | | | with 38 points after completing his |
| have been able to catch Raikkonen and | | | | second race in a row without scoring any |
| take second position if he hadn't had to | | | | points. |