Heartbreak for Massa, Kovalainen’s lucky day!
As a race, the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix is always somewhat processional and this year was no exception. However, the race was spiced up by some unexpected issues that took both Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa out of contention and handed Heikki Kovalainen the race win in the very final stages of the race.
Felipe Massa made an electric getaway from third position on the grid passing Kovalainen on the run to turn one and then braking late, passed Lewis Hamilton for the lead around the outside of turn one. It was a tremendous aggressive move and showing that his record breaking pace in the second round of qualifying yesterday was no fluke, the Brazilian was able to pull out a small advantage from Hamilton, a gap of four to five seconds he retained though the first round of pits stops.
Hamilton did not look to have an answer to Massa’s pace but the championship leader’s race took a further nose-dive as the front-left tyre failed on lap 42. Hamilton made his way slowly back to the pits and took the soft tyre for the remainder of the race.
Out front, Massa controlled the pace and allowed Kovalainen to slowly close the gap. It all looked to be perfectly under control until two laps from home when the Ferrari V8 failed in dramatic fashion handing the race win to Kovalainen and leaving Massa distraught.
It was certainly Kovalainen’s lucky day as he recorded his first Grand Prix victory.
The Finn did not have the pace of McLaren Mercedes team-mate Hamilton nor Massa in the Ferrari. Still, it was an error free run which launches his championship tally to within striking distance of the BMW Sauber duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.
Timo Glock drove what is by far the strongest race of his career to finish second for Toyota, Starting from fifth position, Glock made the jump on Kubica and ran with Kovalainen for much of the race and while second position was perhaps a little fortunate, he was a contender throughout the race on pure pace and not a safety car intervention or an abstract fuel strategy.
Kimi Raikkonen finished in third position having followed Fernando Alonso for two-thirds of the race without making much of an impression. Some rapid pit work from the Ferrari crew gave him the track position and he was then able to close the gap to Glock before backing off in the latter stages following team-mate Massa’s engine failure. The result moves Raikkonen ahead of his unfortunate team-mate in the championship race.
It proved to be a pretty good day for the Renault team with Alonso and Nelson Piquet taking the chequered flag in fourth and sixth positions with Hamilton recovering from his puncture to finish in fifth position and score four valuable points. Despite his problems, Hamilton retains the championship lead with 62 points.
Jarno Trulli started ninth and finished in seventh position in the second Toyota while it was a disappointing day for the BMW Sauber team with Robert Kubica sliding back at the start of the race and then in the pit stops to finish in eighth position. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld opted to take a one stop strategy and finished in tenth position from 15th position on the grid.
Red Bull Renault lost further ground to Toyota in the constructors’ championship with Mark Webber finishing in ninth position and David Coulthard 11th behind Heidfeld. Glock’s eight points move Toyota nine clear of Red Bull in the battle for fourth position in the championship.
Jenson Button finished a lap down in 12th position in the leading Honda while Rubens Barrichello made early progress in the second RA108 only for a refuelling issue to drop the Brazilian veteran back down the order to finish 16th. In between, Kazuki Nakajima used a one stop strategy to take the flag in 13th position ahead of Williams-Toyota team-mate Nico Rosberg and the Force India Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella.
Massa was classified in 17th position and now drops eight points behind Hamilton in the championship and three behind team-mate Raikkonen.
Sebastien Bourdais also suffered a refuelling problem and finished three laps down in 18th while team-mate Sebastian Vettel ran wide at the start of the race heading into the final turn on the first lap and dropped down the order. It would matter little as the STR3 soon ground to a halt with yet another mechanical problem. Adrian Sutil suffered a puncture late in the race in the second Force India and retired the VJM01 a few laps later.
Formula One now takes a short break before reconvening in Valencia in three weeks time.
Earl ALEXANDER
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