Front row filled with Ferraris



Michael Schumacher led the sweep as the pole sitter.
MAGNY COURS, France (AP) -- Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher led a Ferrari sweep of the front row to claim pole position for the French Grand Prix.
It was the 68th career pole and fourth of the season for Schumacher on a hot Saturday afternoon in the French countryside with track temperatures above 122 degrees.
Schumacher finished in 1 minute 15.493 seconds, followed by Felipe Massa at 1:15.510. Current world champion Fernando Alonso was third in his Renault with 1:15.785.
Shooting for eighth
With seven victories already at the French GP, Schumacher is looking to become the first driver to win a single race eight times. In the morning practice session, Schumacher's car had a small fire out of the the exhaust pipes when a heat shield got too hot. But he calmly exited the car and the fire was quickly put out.
The car was ready in time for qualifying with little practice time lost.
"The mechanics were able to get the car back together and they did it superbly and we were able to get on the first row," Schumacher said of the heat shield getting too hot.
In the season's 10 races so far, Alonso has five poles and Schumacher four. They also have six and three victories, respectively.
Alonso dominated last year's French GP, leading McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Schumacher to the podium. Alonso wasn't that concerned about his third place in the starting grid.
Ferrari's return to form continued two weeks ago when Schumacher led a 1-2 finish at the United States GP. It was his third win in 10 races this year and the 87th of his career.
The other seven 2006 races have gone to Renault -- six to Alonso and the other to Giancarlo Fisichella.
Alonso's fifth place at Indianapolis was his lowest finish of the season and the first time he has been off the podium since finishing 11th at the Hungarian GP in July 2005.
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