The front row in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix is all McLaren Mercedes, with the pole of Lewis Hamilton followed a few tenths by comrade Heikki Kovalainen. Second row for Felipe’s Ferrari Mass and for Robert Kubica on BMW Sauber. Timo Glock and Kimi Raikkonen complete the third row. At via Massa he realizes a masterpiece: Kovalainen burned at the start, the Brazilian Ferrari attacks Hamilton on the outside, overtaking him with a bold and courageous maneuver, inflaming the public and all the Ferrari fans. A thrust full of competitive anger, that of the Brazilian, who arrives in turn 1 with blocked wheels making room outside and manages to close the maneuver.
The other Ferrari driver, Raikkonen, duels with Fernando Alonso in the early stages of the race, but the top positions remain unchanged even after the first refueling, with Massa leading the race authoritatively ahead of his rival Hamilton. Unlucky race for Kubica, who slipped into ninth position, while in the pit lane Bourdais, Barrichello and Nakajima saw fires on their cars (the Frenchman from Toro Rosso literally washed down with the fire extinguisher). On lap 41 Hamilton was the victim of one drilling to the left front tire and is forced to complete almost a full lap at a reduced pace, returning tenth. Three laps later Massa made his second stop, returning behind Glock’s Toyota. The long-distance duel between Alonso and Raikkonen subsides on lap 50, when “Iceman”He made a mistake at turn two, finishing slightly long and thus losing contact with the Renault Spaniard. The overtaking of the Finn from Ferrari against Alonso takes place thanks to a good strategy: while the Asturian stops in the pits for the second pit stop, Raikkonen he continues his race setting record laps and thus gaining a sufficient margin that allows him to overtake Alonso and thus conquer the fourth position when he returns to the track after his refueling. Kimi’s was a real festival of fast laps, the one made in the sixty-first lap earned him the record lap of the race.
Massa’s advantage is such that the victory is only a formality to be fulfilled by completing the remaining laps safely. But when there are three laps to go, twelve kilometers from the checkered flag, the Ferrari engine decides to abandon the Brazilian right in front of the pit straight and to the wall that can only witness incredulously in front of the retirement of the green-gold pilot. Felipe so sadly returns to the pits, the plans to return to the top of the standings have vanished. Ranking that sees the English enfant prodige at the top of 62 points, with five points clear of the second (Raikkonen). Massa, on the other hand, slips into third position with eight points behind. A disaster that in the total calculation costs the Brazilian eleven points in the head-to-head with Hamilton: the bill is even more salty, if you think that that World Championship will close at the last corner.
Thanks to mass retreat, Kovalainen has free track and wins the Hungarian Grand Prix, first success in Formula 1 for the Finn. Excellent second place for Timo Glock on Toyota, third Raikkonen on Ferrari, fourth for Alonso’s Renault, fifth for Hamilton, author of a good recovery, sixth for Nelson Piquet Jr; Jarno Trulli on Toyota and Robert Kubica on BMW Sauber close the points.
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