Hungarian Grand Prix

McLaren ace Lewis Hamilton was back on top at last weekend’s Hungarian grand prix. The defending champion took a dominant race victory at the end of a chaotic event that left Ferrari’s Felipe Massa recovering from a serious head injury.

During qualifying on Saturday the young Brazilian’s skull was fractured in a freak accident when a suspension part fell off Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car. The Ferrari ace is now recuperating in hospital and is not expected to race for at least six weeks.

As a result Kimi Raikkonen was the only entry for the Italian squad on race day, starting down in seventh place. However, like eventual winner Hamilton, the Finn used the extra power of his KERS system to catapult up the order into the first corner, before fighting his way up to second at the finish.

Pole-sitter Fernando Alonso managed to stay in front before being reeled in by Hamilton, who had already passed the Red Bull’s of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

Alonso held off Hamilton’s McLaren for a while, but a light fuel load meant the two-time world champ headed for the pits after just twelve laps, leaving the way clear for Lewis.

Disaster then stuck for Alonso when his mechanics failed to secure the right front wheel of his Renault, causing it come adriftf as soon as he rejoined the race. The French squad were subsequently hauled in front of the race stewards, before being slapped with a ban for the next round, the European grand prix in Valencia, Spain.

Another driver suffering a torrid time in Hungary was championship leader Jenson Button. The Brawn GP driver struggled for pace all weekend, eventually bringing his machine home in seventh place and securing two valuable championship points – he now leads Mark Webber by 18.5 points

Further down the grid Toro Rosso’s Jaime Algusuari made an assured debut. Despite qualifying at the back of the grid, the young Spaniard fought his way up to fifteenth at the flag, one place ahead of his team mate Sebastien Buemi.

But the big news was McLaren’s recovery from its dismal early season form, with a first win for Lewis Hamilton since last year’s Chinese grand prix and a fourth place finish for Heikki Kovalainen.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be back here after what feels such a long time away”, exclaimed Hamilton. “I am just so proud of the guys, as I go into the factory and I see how hard everyone is pushing. Everyone wants to win just as much as I do and they never gave up. They have never given up which is something very rare to see in such a large group of people. I am very, very proud of them.”

Next up the team – minus Renault – head to Spain for the European grand prix on 23 August.

Result

1. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes
2. Raikkonen     Ferrari
3. Webber        Red Bull-Renault
4. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota
5. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes
6. Glock         Toyota
7. Button        Brawn-Mercedes
8. Trulli        Toyota
9. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota
10. Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes
11. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber
12. Piquet        Renault
13. Kubica        BMW Sauber
14. Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes
15. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Driver championship

1. Jenson Button      70
2. Mark Webber     51.5
3. Sebastian Vettel     47
4. Rubens Barrichello     44
5. Nico Rosberg     25.5
6. Jarno Trulli     22.5
7. Felipe Massa     22
8. Lewis Hamilton     19
9. Kimi Räikkönen     18
10. Timo Glock     16


Constructor championship

1. Brawn-Mercedes      114
2. RBR-Renault     98.5
3. Ferrari     40
4. Toyota     38.5
5. McLaren-Mercedes     28
6. Williams-Toyota     25.5
7. Renault     13
8. BMW Sauber     8
9. STR-Ferrari     5