Hamilton put the top in final practice

Lewis Hamilton unpredictably put his McLaren top of final practice for the French Grand Prix after Ferrari had dominated the session. Hamilton's best of 1:14.843s was just under a tenth quicker than second-fastest Felipe Massa with Kimi Raikkonen in third. Fernando Alonso did not put in a flier until the very last moments and was eighth fastest.

Renault looked strong in front of its home crowd with fourth and fifth fastest via Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella. Robert Kubica was solid in sixth for BMW Sauber just ahead of Nico Rosberg's Williams. Jarno Trulli and David Coulthard then rounded off the top ten behind Alonso. Nick Heidfeld was 15th in the second BMW Sauber after the driver complained of back pains yesterday. Mark Webber will also be disappointed with 20th fastest although the midfield appears as competitive as ever with just half a second separating seventh and 19th places.

Result:

1. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:14.843

2. F. Massa Ferrari 1:14.906

3. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:15.276

4. H. Kovalainen Renault 1:15.404

5. G. Fisichella Renault 1:15.489

6. R. Kubica BMW 1:15.535

7. N. Rosberg Williams 1:15.735

8. F. Alonso McLaren 1:15.742

9. J. Trulli Toyota 1:15.801

10. D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:15.802

11. V. Liuzzi S T R 1:15.872

12. J. Button Honda 1:15.902

13. A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:15.925

14. R. Schumacher Toyota 1:15.944

15. N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.060

16. R. Barrichello Honda 1:16.102

17. A. Wurz Williams 1:16.104

18. S. Speed S T R 1:16.161

19. T. Sato Super Aguri 1:16.221

20. M. Webber Red Bull 1:16.573

21. A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:17.517

22. C. Albers Spyker F1 1:17.705