Lewis Hamilton put aside all the trials and tribulations of the dramatic qualifying session yesterday to take victory this afternoon in Hungary. Starting from pole position the championship leader was under pressure throughout the 70-lap race, but took the chequered flag just under a second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
It was a tough race for Hamilton as he was not able to pull out any significant advantage from his Ferrari rival, but with team-mate Fernando Alonso finishing in fourth position, does extend his championship advantage from two points to seven.
Raikkonen made the best of a slow start from Nick Heidfeld to grab second position into the first turn. The Ferrari driver was able to hound Hamilton race long, but such is the nature of the circuit, was never able to make a serious attempt at a pass.
Nick Heidfeld took the final podium position for BMW Sauber. It was a solid run from the German racer as he came under intense pressure in the closing stages from Fernando Alonso. Opting to run a three stop strategy, Heidfeld found himself only just ahead of Alonso in the final laps of the race, taking the chequered flag 1.7s clear of the McLaren driver. For Alonso, his race was compromised by a cautious opening lap that saw him initially lose ground to Mark Webber and Robert Kubica. Alonso soon regained the ground but would then spend much of the race stuck behind the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. It was not until the final stint that he was clear of Schumacher and able to pressure Heidfeld.
Robert Kubica was fifth in the second BMW Sauber and like his team-mate used a three stop strategy. Ralf Schumacher had a solid run in his Toyota to finish in sixth position ahead of Nico Rosberg who will be disappointed with seventh position in his Williams Toyota. Rosberg ran fourth in the opening stages, but the team had opted for a very short first stint meaning a three stop strategy. This would lose him ground late in the race.
Heikki Kovalainen salvaged a point for the Renault team in eighth position ahead of Mark Webber in his Red Bull Renault. Jarno Trulli was never able to recover from a poor start and finished in tenth position in the second Toyota.
David Coulthard finished in 11th position in his Red Bull Renault ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella who was unable to make up the ground he lost with his qualifying penalty. It was a similar situation for Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari as he took the chequered flag in 13th position, underlining just how hard it is to pass at this circuit.
Alex Wurz had a low-key race in the second Williams as he took 14th ahead of Takuma Sato in his Super Aguri Honda and Sebastian Vettel in his Toro Rosso. Adrian Sutil was 17th in his Spyker Ferrari finishing ahead of Rubens Barrichello who had the most difficult race of his long career in the awful Honda RA107.
Sakon Yamamoto crashed out of his first race with Spyker early in the race, while an engine failure ended Jenson Button’s miserable day. Anthony Davidson and Giancarlo Fisichella battled hard on track and slight contact sent the Super Aguri Honda driver spinning out of the race.
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International
1. L.Hamilton
2. K.Raikkonen
3. N.Heidfeld