For a start, it was raining the proverbial cats and dogs - more like lions and St. Bernards! Alesi, Barrichello and Panis all chanced their luck very early on in the session to get a time on the empty track. Their gamble paid off. Most drivers waited until half way through the session to wait for the rain to stop. It didn't - it got worse! Hence the bizarre grid arrangement. Hakkinen 14th?! Irvine 17th???? It looked unlikely for a while that all drivers would post a time within 107% of the pole position! Several cars were damaged in spins. The race is definitely going to be exciting - wet or dry!

Maybe Max Mosley can hear the grass roots blowing in the wind. As the public screams for some action, The French Grand Prix steps up and delivers the goods. The REAL goods. Sure, it took a torrential downpour to equalize the field, but when the going got tough, the tough went racing. There was more passing in this race, than in the past three years. Is it possible for man to create made-to-order weather conditions? Max? Bernie?

The heat has been beaming down on the governing body of F1 lately. The drivers, the public, and the motorsports media have been pleading for relief from the current state of affairs in F1 racing. Can racecars and drivers simply race? Is it possible for the faster car to pass the slower car, in less than three laps? Can we, the public, see F1 drivers demonstrate to us, why it is, they make such large sums of money? The French GP proved to me, why these men command such enormous retainers. This is racing for the iron-hearted. And after all, were it not for a race such as this, the iron heart would have continued to rust and crumble away.

I can't speak for anyone else, but the Magny-Cours circuit, to me, is all that a F1 track should be. Long straights, high-speed benders, and wide track surfaces for passing, make this circuit a joy to watch on television. The cars that finish towards the front must have a lot of horsepower, for the straights and a lot of grip to handle the wide variety of low and medium speed corners. No surprise, then, that the McLaren and Ferrari cars have good track records here. But who could account for the Jordan and the Stewart? The rain, of course. That isn't to say that Jordan or the Stewart would have stood a chance to win without the precipitation, but come on, now. This is still F1, is it not?

With the top teams guessing wrong during qualifying, Stewart's Rubens Barrichello grabbed the rain-soaked pole, 25 seconds off the lap record set by Nigel Mansell in 1992. Following him was Jean Alesi in the Sauber, and Olivier Panis, in the Prost. Championship points leader, Mika Hakkinen, in the McLaren Mercedes was left out in the rain, and could only settle for the 14th starting spot. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher could only grab the 6th spot. The closest top-tiered car was McLaren's David Coulthard, in the 4th position. When the race got under way, David Coulthard decided this was his race to lose, and drove accordingly. By lap six, he had passed Barrichello for the lead. But, alas, it was not in the cards for Coulthard, his McLaren stopped with electrical gremlins four laps later.

By this time, Coulthard's teammate, Hakkinen, had plans to find his way to the front. Looking like a man we've never seen before, the Finn sliced his way through the field. By far, his most impressive drive, to date. Not even Schumacher could hold him back. Yet, once he found his way to the front, he spun at the Adelaide hairpin, losing all the steam he had built up. Hakkinen's chief rival, Michael Schumacher seemed to have the race in the bag, after the safety car bunched up the field. After the restart, Schumacher looked as though he was going to show how the "boys" how this wet weather racing was to be done. But Schumacher also had mechanical problems while comfortably leading, dropping the German back in the middle of the pack. It was good while it lasted, though.

With only ten laps remaining, all the cars had to pit for fuel, in order to make it to the end of the race. Oh, except for the OTHER German, Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan. Having taken on a huge load of fuel during his first and only pitstop, Frentzen had no reason to make that second stop. Pity the rest of the field. Game, set and match. Checkmate, old chap. It is the BAR team that is getting the factory Honda power next year? Maybe Honda needs to supply TWO teams with the factory works, next year. Eddie Jordan, Frentzen, and his team can never get enough credit for this crafty win. We all kept waiting for Frentzen to make that last stop, but it never came. We, and I suppose the rest of the paddock, never knew we were one step behind the Buzzin' Hornet Jordan.

So, what do we take away from The Grand Prix of France? Racecar drivers are still full of rage and bravado, regardless of the Max Mosleys of the world. F1 needed this race, like a fire needs oxygen. Unfortunately, this probably lets Mosley and Ecclestone off the hook for a little while. "See", they say, "F1 is as healthy as ever. All this talk is rubbish". I say, add inclement weather, and let's roll the dice. In two weeks we arrive at The British Grand Prix, and maybe, all the problems may return. No passing, race leaders with a half a minute lead. But that is in two weeks. For now, we can bask in the glory of this race. The return of racing in F1. As the points leader, Mika Hakkinen said following the race, "Today has once again proved that we can be professional drivers without banging wheels, even if it is close competition. We can have great racing without touching each other's cars. This is exactly motor racing should be." Amen, Mika, amen........

Click here to view the championship standings to date.