20 cars started the French Grand Prix and 15 finished the 70-lap race, but it was in effect a one horse race for the victory as Fernando Alonso converted his Pole Position into his fifth win of the season and in doing so, gave Renault their first win as a constructor on French soil since Alain Prost won back in 1983.
The key to Alonso's race victory was his pace in the opening stint of the race where he pulled out over 20 seconds over Jarno Trulli who started the race second in his Toyota. With that advantage in his pocket and Trulli backing up the field, Alonso was able to control his pace for the remainder of the race and take a comfortable win from non-other than Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren Mercedes.
Raikkonen, starting back in 13th position after losing ten positions on the grid due to an engine change penalty from the Friday failure, picked off a few positions at the start of the race and then put in a series of rapid laps to make the best use of his two-stop strategy to ensure he emerged from the pits in second position, a position he would keep until the chequered flag.
While Renault and McLaren Mercedes were the dominant cars in the field by some margin both Giancarlo Fisichella and Juan Pablo Montoya has races to forget as Montoya ran third and looked set for a podium position behind his team-mate until a hydraulics problems ended his race at two-thirds distance. Fisichella meanwhile drove a poor race and was never a factor at all.
Third position went to US Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher, but finishing almost a lap down to Alonso will mean few smiles at the Ferrari camp despite the points haul for the championship. Schumacher pushed hard in the first half of the race, but the pace simply was not there.
Jenson Button was the first lapped as he brought BAR Honda its first points of the season with a solid if unspectacular run to fourth position. Team-mate Takuma Sato could well have made the podium from his fourth position on the grid, but a crazy lunge whilst trying to pass Trulli saw him hit the gravel trap at high speed. Soon after the Japanese driver was off again, this time taking avoiding action as someone else got it wrong at Estoril. Sato was classified 11th and his season shows no real signs of any progress.
Jarno Trulli finished in fifth position, but it was not a good race for Toyota who lacked pace from the outset, lapping between one and two seconds a lap off the pace of Fernando Alonso. As has been the case in many races this year, Trulli's qualifying position and the lack of pace in race conditions ensured that the field backed up behind the Italian racer. Still, there were no mistakes from Trulli and his fifth position moves helps move the German-based team ahead of BMW Williams in the drivers' championship.
Giancarlo Fisichella showed little pace in the sister Renault and one has to wonder why he is unable to raise his game and lap close to the pace of his team-mate. A problem with the fuel hose in the first stop cost him some time but the stall in the second stop cost him yet more. Fisichella was eventually sixth overall.
Ralf Schumacher had another quiet race for Toyota and finished in seventh position while Jacques Villeneuve drove a strong race in his Sauber Petronas to collect the final point for the Swiss-based team.
Rubens Barrichello made short work of Takuma Sato to run fourth at the start of the race, but that was the highlight of the Brazilian's day as he finished ninth and out of the points in the second Ferrari.
David Coulthard finished tenth in his Red Bull Cosworth in what has been a tough weekend for the team. Coulthard pushed hard to try and catch and pass Barrichello, but he was unable to get close enough to have a serious try.
Over at BMW Williams, the race was a complete disaster. After qualifying 12th and 14th Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld had no real pace and finished in the same positions. Webber suffered from a heating issue where the heat from the underside of the car was heating up his seat, while Heidfeld made no less than six stops complaining of a handling problem that the team were unable to resolve. It is hard to see where the team can go from here as this race was hoped to be something of a turning point with many modifications to the FW27.
Of the rest, Tiago Monteiro finished in 13th position in his Jordan Toyota extending his unbroken run of race finishes in 2005. Team- mate Narain Karthikeyan was the final runner in the sister EJ15 finishing another lap adrift.
Neither Minardi Cosworth made the race distance with both Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers suffered left rear Bridgestone failures, while Felipe Massa retired mid-race with mechanical problems with the Sauber. Christian Klien's race lasted just a lap before a fuel problem saw him stopped on track and out of the race.
The story of Magny Cours is Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen as the two championship leaders showed emphatically why they are at the top of the standings. Heading to Silverstone next weekend, Raikkonen is still a contender for the title, but with Alonso and Renault right on form, it is clear it will not be easy to close down the 24 points gap.