Kubica's win opens up chase ahead of French GP

PAUL LOGOTHETIS

The Associated Press

Thursday, Jun. 19, 2008

BMW Sauber is already ahead of expectations going into the French Grand Prix. Now it's looking to stay ahead of Ferrari and McLaren in the drivers' standings.

Robert Kubica's first win at the Canadian GP blew the championship wide open and gave him a surprising four-point lead over favorites Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa with seven races ahead in Europe.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground and keep working, keep pushing because we know there is a gap to the Ferraris and McLarens and we need to make bigger steps to close it and we will try our best," Kubica said Thursday.

Kubica's win was the first by a non-McLaren or Ferrari driver since Fernando Alonso took the 2006 Japanese GP for Renault - a stretch of 25 races. Nick Heidfeld completed a 1-2 finish for the German team, leaving it trailing Ferrari by only three points in the constructors' standings.

"Our target for the 2008 season was to turn the two-horse race at the top of the standings into a three-way battle and to win our first race," BMW Sauber's motorsports director Mario Theissen said. "Clearly, we are not about to sit back and relax now. The whole team is hugely motivated and is looking to build on our success so far."

Now, BMW Sauber can no longer downplay their championship hopes.

"Nobody who is at the top of the (championship) after seven races is there by accident," Theissen said of Kubica, who finished fourth at the Circuit de Nevers last year.

Hamilton is looking to bounce back after a serious error probably cost him the Canadian GP and some of the momentum coming off a dramatic victory at the preceding Monaco GP.

Hamilton will be penalized 10 places on the grid after ramming into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the pit lane in Canada. A podium finish will be tough.

"There's more work for me to do. Considering we're all so close in the championship, I guess it spices it up a bit," said Hamilton, who is bidding for McLaren's first French victory since 2000.

"It's going to be harder ... but I don't have any doubts or any worries, I think we're going to have a very strong package this weekend, and I think the car will be as good if not better than it was in the last race."

Ferrari has won seven of the past 11 French GPs, but defending world champion Raikkonen has not finished on the podium in three races after taking two of the first four GPs of the season. The 28-year-old Finn can't wait to drive in France, where he led a Ferrari 1-2 last year.

"It was here in France last year that my season practically started all over again and this is what I need now, after the two races with no points," said Raikkonen, who trails Kubica by seven points. "I don't remember when I had such a great lust for winning."

Massa hasn't finished out of the top five since winning at Bahrain and is in a good position to challenge Kubica.

"Last year I was on pole and had great pace in the race," the Brazilian driver said. "I lost a little bit of time in the traffic and lost a position in the second pit stop ... I am looking forward to having a competitive race and I think it is a good track for us."

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais is vying to become the first Frenchman since Alain Prost in 1993 to win on home soil. The four-time Champ car champion was 13th at Montreal after retiring in his three previous races.

Fernando Alonso will need a boost from Renault to become only the sixth driver to accumulate 500 points in a career.

The two-time world champion, who sits at 499, said earlier this week that he would make a decision about his future - and whether he would remain with the French team - at the end of the season.

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