Hungarian F1 Grand Prix: Kovalainen Claims Maiden Victory

Kovalainen became the 100th winner in Formula One history in Hungary

It's fantastic, a great moment, something I've been targeting for many years - hopefully this is the first of many

By Citizen Correspondent Sir Stephen

Date Posted: 08/04/08

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McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen may have benefitted from others’ misfortune in Hungary on Sunday, but some would say it was merely payback for the poor luck he has previously suffered this season. It was a race that saw McLaren move into second place in the constructors’ standings, taking a sizeable chunk out of Ferrari’s lead in the process. The only consolation for the Italian team after that late engine failure was their revived race pace, which saw Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa score the two fastest laps of the race...

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen captured his maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix as team-mate Lewis Hamilton kept his title lead despite finishing fifth. Ferrari's Felipe Massa gifted the Finn victory after his car ground to a halt with just three laps to go.

Massa jumped both McLarens at Turn One and the race looked to be his after Hamilton suffered a punctured tyre. But bad luck hit Massa and Kovalainen took the flag ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Fernando Alonso matched his best finish of the season for Renault in fourth ahead of former team-mate Hamilton, whose fifth place was decent damage limitation. Renault's Nelson Piquet, Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica collected the rest of the points.

Ferrari will be left ruing what might have been after Massa's retirement ended their hopes of halting McLaren's winning streak at the Hungaroring. After struggling to match their rival's pace in the last two races at Silverstone and Hockenheim, the team were on the verge of reigniting their faltering campaign thanks to Massa's audacious passing move at the start. The Brazilian had sent a plume of smoke into the air as he nipped past Kovalainen and then squeezed polesitter Hamilton into Turn One.

Given McLaren's dominance in practice and qualifying, Massa's brilliant injection of pace suggested he was running light on fuel and, with a 3.5-second lead under his belt, he came in at the end of lap 18. One lap later, Hamilton, who was struggling to get his tyres going, followed suit but took on board enough fuel for a longer middle stint.

But the Englishman did not get the opportunity to test his tactics of trying to stay out on the track long enough to eclipse Massa.