Back to racing at French Grand Prix

MAGNY COURS, France (AP) All Formula One cars practiced Friday for the French Grand Prix, two weeks after 14 cars boycotted the U.S. Grand Prix because of concerns about tire safety.

Some of the 14 drivers who boycotted the U.S. race recorded impressive times on their Michelin tires. This time, all seven teams that refused to race in Indianapolis were on the track.

The sport's governing body found the seven teams guilty of wrongfully refusing to race at Indy. Punishment will be announced in September.

Pedro de la Rosa of McLaren-Mercedes led both sessions on the 2.74-mile Magny Cours circuit. There are two practice sessions Saturday, followed by qualifying leading to Sunday's 70-lap race.

In the morning, de la Rosa was timed in 1 minute, 14.778 seconds on the 2.74-mile Magny Cours circuit. In the afternoon, he finished in 1:14.460.

In the morning, Fernando Alonso, who is leading the driver standings, was second in 1:15.183, with Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella third in 1:15.255. In the afternoon, they were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Alonso has 59 points in the seasons standings, followed by Kimi Raikkonen with 37 and Michael Schumacher with 34.

"We had a good balance on the car right from the start of the day and we didn't change the setup at all," Alonso said. "That's always a good way to start on Friday because it means that you can use your laps to test the tires and work on other things."

Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes was forced out of afternoon practice on the first lap when his engine caught fire. He will be penalized in Sunday's race for the engine change.

Raikkonen had won three of the four races before withdrawing from the U.S. GP. He also was leading two other races before his car broke down, including on the last lap at the European Grand Prix. Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was second in the afternoon session.

The French Grand Prix marks the series' midway point, and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is finally rounding into shape after making up 18 points on Alonso during the two races in North America.

Schumacher had the 11th fastest time in the morning, but Ferrari was using the session to experiment with car settings. In the afternoon he was third.

Schumacher was one of only six drivers who raced at Indianapolis on June 19 - all on Bridgestone tires. He won for the first time this season, and is looking for another victory on the French track where he has won seven times.