The 2003 French Grand Prix/GP di Francia

[Michael Schumacher]

The French GP, Michelin's proposed home Grand Prix. According to Luciano Burti, Ferrari's Former test driver, Michelins will reign supreme. If thats the case the boys in red and the other teams using Bridgestones will have a tough weekend ahead of them. One mistake from Michael (or attack by Montoya ) could see the change of the championship leader. Weather will play a huge factor in this race. Last year this was the track were Michael secured the 2002 Drivers Championship. This year could be were Kimi takes and keeps the 2003 Drivers Championship. When Sundays race rolls around we might see only 18 cars on the starting grid. Its turning out to be an exciting weekend and it hasnt even started yet .

[Chain]

I dont know if BAR will miss out or will ever be miss this coming circuit but I do know I'll be watching out for Williams BMW and Montoya

Well anyways, whoever the race winner will be, I hope to see an exciting race, much more exciting than last weekend's one.

Go Williams, Go BMW, Go Montoya go!

[ales]

I have a feeling it will be a Michelin win again, and I won't be surprised one bit if Ralf takes the honours again. I hope MS finishes on the podium (at least). It is one of his favourite tracks though, but I'm not keeping my hopes up too high.

[crayzayjay]

France isnt one of Ralf's favourites though... i think Kimi will take the win

[Chain]

Originally posted by crayzayjay
France isnt one of Ralf's favourites though... i think Kimi will take the win

Really? Darn, there's always Montoya though hehe

Kimi, hmm, with last week's race performance looking to be his race, he will be very motivated to get this one.
If he does, I think he deserves it.

Oh, there's Schumi! He played soccer just 2 days ago.
Not bad for an F1 driver considering there were the likes of Zidane, Figo, Eto and many other professional players.

[z33guy]

BAR took place in the first qualifier, but no track time and they were one of the slowest cars there. minardi and firman led that sessions top 3

[RallyRaider]

Thanks to the new rules and drying weather conditions we have what must be the freakiest qualifying session ever. If conditions were to repeat themselves tomorrow we could effectively have a reverse grid. Hope that doesn't give Max and Bernie ideas for next year.

1. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'20"817 196.488 Km/h 3
2. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'20"968 + 0'00"151 3
3. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'23"496 + 0'02"679 3
4. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'24"042 + 0'03"225 3
5. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'24"175 + 0'03"358 3
6. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'24"642 + 0'03"825 3
7. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'24"651 + 0'03"834 3
8. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'25"178 + 0'04"361 3
9. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'26"151 + 0'05"334 3
10. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'26"975 + 0'06"158 3
11. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'27"095 + 0'06"278 3
12. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'27"929 + 0'07"112 3
13. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'28"502 + 0'07"685 3
14. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'28"937 + 0'08"120 3
15. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'28"988 + 0'08"171 3
16. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'29"024 + 0'08"207 3
17. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'29"120 + 0'08"303 3
18. 4 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'29"327 + 0'08"510 3
19. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'29"455 + 0'08"638 3
20. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'30"731 + 0'09"914 3

[Michael Schumacher]

Pre-Qualifying for the French Grand Prix

1 Verstappen Jos - 1.20.817
Minardi-Cosworth

2 Wilson Justin - 1.20.968
Minardi-Cosworth

3 Firman Ralph - 1.23.496
Jordan-Cosworth

4 Heidfeld Nick -1.24.042
Sauber-Petronas

5 Panis Olivier - 1.24.175
Toyota

6 Pizzonia Antonio - 1.24.642
Jaguar-Cosworth

7 Villeneuve Jacques - 1.24.651
Bar-Honda

8 Webber Mark - 1.25.178
Jaguar-Cosworth

9 Frentzen Heinz-Harald - 1.26.151
Sauber-Petronas

10 Da Matta Cristiano - 1.26.975
Toyota

11 Barrichello Rubens - 1.27.095
Ferrari

12 Schumacher Michael - 1.27.929
Ferrari

13 Fisichella Giancarlo - 1.28.502
Jordan-Cosworth

14 Coulthard David - 1.28.937
McLaren-Mercedes

15 Montoya Juan Pablo - 1.28.988
BMW-Williams

16 Trulli Jarno - 1.29.024
Renault

17 Raikkonen Kimi - 1.29.120
McLaren-Mercedes

18 Schumacher Ralf - 1.29.327
BMW-Williams

19 Alonso Fernando - 1.29.455
Renault

20 Button Jenson - 1.30.731
Bar-Honda

What the hell is this
I missed pre-qualifying because my stupid alarm didnt go off . But may favorite channel Speed replays it twice so I'll have to catch it later. Thats probably the most messed up grid you can get. On Ferraris site it says "A wet first hour", did guys like Minardi's head out first and then it started raining? I'll be interested to see what happend in this Qualifying session to say the least.

Edit:
Hey you beat me to it

[z33guy]

no it was damp when the top guys when out and dried by the time minardi and all those went out. Firman even had a small off on his lap and came about around and still got first at one time.

[RallyRaider]

Too slow Michael! Beat you to it. Feel free to keep up the tardiness for the rest of the weekend

[Chain]

Originally posted by RallyRaider
Too slow Michael! Beat you to it. Feel free to keep up the tardiness for the rest of the weekend

and to think I just finished watching it and thats what they call it LIVE here in Singapore, I'm gonna complain to my cable providers

[ales]

I wa only able to watch 1/2 of the qualifying due to urgent matters (like my car being towed away for a ridiculous reason, andI had to pay quite a bit to get it back ). Anyway, would have loved to see that! Although two weekends in a row the new qualifying format, IMHO, screws itself as drivers are clearly not placed in equal circumstances for everyone. Oh well.

BAR drivers were unable to take part in Q1, but they look set to be in action for the rest of the weekend (see the other thread in a minute).

Stoddard must have been over the moon over this, right?

[ales]

and to the back of the timesheet he goes.

[Raging Bull]

wow, what a fantastic "pre" grid. Missed qualif live, but hope its repeated later. Anyone from UK know if ITV showing it later tonight??

[vectorclub]

If Minardi can have this kind of luck, maybe my favorite "under dog" team, Jaguar, will get in the top 3 this Sunday.