FINISH: Please join us again on July 6th for the British GP at Silverstone.
FINISH: Felipe Massa is the new 2008 Championship leader! Well done Felipe!
FINISH: The Renaults of Piquet Jr and Alonso round off the points-paying position. Well done to Piquet Jr on his first two F1 World Championship points. He'll be delighted.
FINISH: Jarno Trulli was third ahead of Kovalainen, Kubica and Webber.
FINISH: Raikkonen is second, 17.9s behind his team-mate. Great race for the Finn, who was driving with a broken exhaust.
Lap 70: Massa crosses the line to win the French GP! His third win of the season and eighth of his F1 career.
Lap 69: Kovalainen tries to take Trulli, the two almost touch, he runs it wide, cuts the chicane and has to settle back down behind Trulli.
Lap 69: Alonso runs wide lapping a Force India, which allows Piquet Jr though. However, two corners later Piquet Jr runs wide and Alonso is back into seventh place.
Lap 68: Kubica has for some reason fallen off the battle for third. He's now 2s behind Kovalainen.
Lap 67: Trulli is chasing his first podium finish since Spain 2005. But Kovalainen could end it. He's half a second behind the Toyota man.
Lap 66: Bad afternoon for Williams with Rosberg P15 and Nakajima P17. Only the Force India's are slower.
Lap 65: Ferrari will earn 18 points, extending their total to 91, while BMW will have 74 and McLaren 58.
Lap 64: Should the positions stay as they are Massa will be leading the standings on 48, Kubica will drop to second on 46, Raikkonen will move to third on 43 and Hamilton will fall to fourth.
Lap 63: Massa is 16s ahead of Raikkonen, looking for his third victory of the season.
Lap 62: Coulthard is being chased by Hamilton and Glock while Webber has Alonso and Piquet Jr looking for a way through.
Lap 61: The rain has stopped. Kovalainen and Kubica are right on Trulli's rear wing. Trulli pushes Kovalainen wide. The McLaren driver drops a few meters which puts him in line for Kubica to try and overtake.
Lap 60: The drivers are slowing down a bit given that the track is a little bit slippery in some places. It's not raining heavily but it's definitely dampening the circuit.
Lap 59: Alonso has homed in on Webber. Hamilton takes 10th off Glock.
Lap 59: It is starting to rain a bit!!!
Lap 58: Hamilton closes up on Glock. Less than a second separate the two drivers who are figthing over 11th place.
Lap 57: Should the positions stay as it is Piquet Jr will score his first point of the season.
Lap 56: Light rain expected for the next 30 minutes.
Lap 55: Hamilton takes 11th place off Vettel as Bourdais goes off the track at Estoril. He makes his way back on and continues.
Lap 54: Massa pits from the lead. He looks to be on course for the victory here this afternoon with only a drama/disaster able to stop him
Lap 53: Heikki pits from third. Coulthard pits, Hamilton pits
Lap 52: Raikkonen pits from second place. The Finn is in for 8.1s and soft tyres. Ferrari mechanics are on stand by with a fire extinguisher just in case the car catches alight given that some of the bodywork is burnt.
Lap 51: Trulli pits. Sof tyres and 7.1s. Piquet Jr pits as well. He was P5.
Lap 50: Webber pits from fifth place. Soft tyres and 7.3. Glock pits next.
Lap 49: Vettel and Heidfeld both come in for their second stops.
Lap 49: Raikkonen's pace is suddenly back. Not up there with Massa's but it's a second quicker than he what he was doing when his team-mate overtook him.
Lap 48: Once again Hamilton easily powers his way through into 12th place ahead of Alonso who seems to give up the position too easily.
Lap 47: Kubica pits from fourth place. He's in for 8.1s and puts on the softer option tyres.
Lap 46: Hamilton is closing in on Alonso, who is P12 after his second pit stop. Earlier Alonso wacked him when he passed. Will he try do the same or is it Alonso's turn to bump Hamilton?
Lap 45: Sutil pits. Raikkonen is still in second place, 22s ahead of Trulli. Trulli, though, is catching him a second a lap.
Lap 44: Alonso pits for soft tyres. He's in for 9.3s and was fifth. He comes out behind Heidfeld.
Lap 44: Kovalainen takes sixth place off Webber, easily outpacing the Red Bull.
Lap 43: Hamilton in 13th place, 18seconds behind Piquet Jr who is eighth.
Lap 42: Rosberg pits for his first - and only - stop of the day. He was P14
Lap 41: Trulli is now catching Raikkonen by a second a lap, while Kubica is just a second behind the Toyota driver.
Lap 40: The exhaust pipe, which is flapping against the side of Raikkonen's car, could possibly set the car alight. Interesting decision from Ferrari, who insist it's not dangerous and that Kimi can't catch alight.
Lap 39: Massa takes the lead from Raikkonen, easily diving up the inside of his team-mate.
Lap 38: Massa is right behind Raikkonen - will the Finn step aside? What is going on with Kimi's Ferrari. It looks like his exhaust is broke. The right bank appears to be hanging down.
Lap 37: Nakajima and Barrichello both pit. Rosberg is the only driver who hasn't pitted. Massa continues to cut into Raikkonen's lead.
Lap 36: Raikkonen loses another second to Massa. The only driver slower than the Finn is Fisichella who has just pitted for fuel.
Lap 35: Raikkonen does a really slow lap. In fact he was the slowest driver on the track that lap. Is there a problem?
Lap 34: Fisichella pits from 14th place as Kubica closes right up on Trulli's rear wing.
Lap 33: Adrian Sutil is the last driver running. He's down in 19th place, one lap down on Raikkonen.
Lap 32: Kubica is catching Trulli - a second faster than the Toyota driver that last lap.
Lap 31: The Ferraris are in a league of their own here today. Raikkonen leads by 6.6s while Massa is a further 25.7s ahead of Trulli.
Lap 30: Vettel pits from fourth place. The Toro Rosso driver is in for 7.6s so expect a short middle stint. Heidfeld also pits.
Lap 29: Hamilton has overtaken Rosberg for 16th place while Kubica's engineer warns of rain in five minutes.
Lap 28: Alonso has managed to get back in front of Webber, who briefly appeared to lose control of his Red Bull.
Lap 27: The Renault driver runs wide, Glock gets through, Piquet Jr comes back and gets ahead. He is P11.
Lap 26: Piquet Jr and Kovalainen both pit. Piquet Jr comes out ahead. The Brazilian, though, has problems getting away and Kovalainen is able to get ahead of him down the pit straight.
Lap 26: Hamilton is all over the back of Rosberg as the duo fight for 17th position.
Lap 25: Webber's pit stop puts him ahead of Alonso on the track. Well played by Red Bull.
Lap 24: Massa then pits for 9.4s. He puts on the harder option tyres. Webber pits.
Lap 23: Massa puts a lap on Hamilton and is seen shaking his hand at the McLaren driver, who he feels held him up
Lap 22: Raikkonen pits from the lead. The Ferrari driver puts on the harder option tyres again and is stopped for 9.4s. And he comes out in clear air. Glock pits.
Lap 21: Trulli and Kubica pit from third and fourth. Sutil also pits.
Lap 20: Hamilton's stop is 9.1s and as he comes out as a Ferrari laps him
Lap 20: Hamilton overtakes Alonso, wacking the Renault on his way through. Hamilton then pits for fuel. Meanwhile bits of a Toro Rosso's bodywork are flying around the track.
Lap 19: Button pits for the second time today. He's stone last. He retires.
Lap 18: Kovalainen has taken over from Hamilton as Piquet Jr's pursuer. He nearly connects with the Renault driver as he gets a bit too close without overtaking.
Lap 17: Hamilton is on a charge. The McLaren driver clocks the fastest first sector time as he tries to close in on Alonso.
Lap 16: Alonso pits from fourth place for harder tyres. He's in for 8.4s. He comes out just behind Heidfeld and in front of Hamilton.
Lap 15: While Hamilton suffers, Raikkonen continues to pull away from the chasing pack with another new fastest lap time. Raikkonen is leading Massa by 4.1s.
Lap 14: The McLaren immediately takes it and comes out just ahead of Nakajima. Hamilton is in 13th.
Lap 13: Drive-through penalty for Hamilton!
Lap 12: David Coulthard has had a bad start to the race, falling to 11th place.
Lap 11: Trulli is pulling away from Alonso, who in turn is being caught by Kubica. BMW have struggled here this weekend, which is in sharp contrast to their performance at the previous race in Canada, which was won by Kubica. His team-mate Nick Heidfeld is P13.
Lap 10: New fastest race lap time for Raikkonen, it's a 1:16.825.
Lap 9: Great battle from Nakajima in 14th place to Rosberg in 19th place. Just six seconds separate six drivers.
Lap 8: Hamilton is under investigation after cutting the chicane to overtake Vettel at the start of the race.
Lap 8: Raikkonen has a three second lead over Massa.
Lap 7: Piquet Jr runs wide and almost hands eighth place to Hamilton. Hamilton is locking up and almost hitting the back of Piquet Jr as he tries to overtake. He can't.
Lap 6: Hamilton easily passes Kovalainen and is up to ninth place. Already he's putting pressure on Piquet Jr while Button comes in for repairs.
Lap 5: Problems for Button, who damages the front of his car. His front wing is hanging down and he'll need to crawl back to the pits for repairs.
Lap 4: Great start from Piquet Jr, who is in eighth place.
Lap 3: Raikkonen and Massa are leading the way in Magny-Cours. The two Ferraris definitely have the better pace at the start of the race.
Lap 2: Hamilton is past Coulthard as well and up to 10th place behind his team-mate Kovalainen.
Lap 1: Hamilton's heads past Vettel, however, he used the outside of the track and therefore could be questioned by the stewards.
Lap 1: Hamilton is all over the track, he powers around the outside of Nick Heidfeld in to the Adelaide hairpin and is soon up to 11th place.
Lap 1: The two Ferraris get off well but problems for Alonso, who drops to fifth place behind the Trulli and Kubica.
START: And it's go at Magny-Cours!
13H03: The 20 drivers reform the grid ready for the start of the 2008 French GP.
13H00: The formation lap is under way. The drivers weave around the track trying to build up the temperature in their tyres.
12H58: Both Ferraris and most of the field are on the harder option tyres except Hamilton, who is using the softer tyres as he tries to make progress off the start line.
12H56: The track temperature is 30c, with a 24c ambient.
12H54: The drivers are all in their cars, tyres are on, the grid girls are leaving.
12H50: There is no rain falling at this very minute and in fact the sun is trying really hard to breakthrough the clouds.
12H48: Rubens Barrichello, who qualified P18, will be starting at the back of the grid after a gearbox change in his Honda.
12H44: This poses a problem as it's not quite wet enough for intermediates but perhaps a bit too wet for dry tyres.
12H40: The immediate forecast for the next couple of hours is for this on/off light rain to continue.
12H35: Another penalty has also been dished out with Heikki Kovalainen dropping to tenth on the grid after he was deemed to have blocked Mark Webber in qualifying.
12H32: Nico Rosberg was also handed the same penalty as Hamilton and he will therefore start at the back of the field as the Williams driver could only manage P15 in a disappointing qualifying session.
12H25: Fernano Alonso will be starting P3 after Lewis Hamilton's 10-grid slot penalty saw him drop from third to thirteenth.
12H20: The two Ferraris are starting on the front row of the grid after Kimi Raikkonen edged Felipe Massa in qualifying. And in doing so Kimi had the honour of nabbing Ferrari's 200th pole position.
12H10: This race could yet prove to be the final time F1 pays a visit to Magny-Cours with Bernie Ecclestone having recently said he would be scrapping the race. And with no other venues in France raising their hand to take on the race, today's event could be the final French Grand Prix for a while.
12H00: Welcome to coverage of the 2008 French GP, which takes place at Magny-Cours.
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