What The Papers Say About Hungary

Monday 4th August 2008

Fleet Street isn't all that focused on Heikki Kovalainen's maiden victory in Hungary. Rather their interests lie with Lewis Hamilton's extending his lead in the Championship...

'Lewis Hamilton was saved from a blow-out disaster in yesterday's Hungarian Grand Prix - by a Felipe Massa blow-up!

Britain's F1 sensation saw his dream of a hat-trick of wins reduced to shreds, along with the left front tyre of his McLaren.

'But Hamilton will still head into the three-week summer break having increased his lead in the fierce fight for the world championship - all thanks to rival Massa's Ferrari engine giving up the ghost just three laps from victory.

'Had Massa won, his 10 points would have taken him back above Hamilton in the title race.

'Instead the Brazilian finished with nothing, Hamilton picked up four points for his fifth place and now leads Kimi Raikkonen overall by five.' - Michael Spearman, The Sun

'The script implied Lewis Hamilton ought to dominate the Hungarian Grand Prix, but he was undone by Felipe Massa's insouciance and, subsequently, a punctured tyre.

'The revised script portrayed Massa as a comfortable victor, but his was to be a fruitless dominance. There were only three laps to go when his Ferrari's engine detonated and Heikki Kovalainen emerged through the smoke as a first-time Formula One winner at the 28th attempt.' - Simon Arron, The Telegraph

'The Hungarian grand prix didn't turn out as it should have done. Lewis Hamilton, the dominant force in practice and qualifying, couldn't take victory, but still left with his title lead intact. Felipe Massa, the erratically-performing Ferrari driver, made the most impressive start of the season so far but his hopes went bang with his engine at the end. Kimi Raikkonen, his curiously off-pace team-mate, salvaged some crucial points after a dreadful qualifying. And only one of them crossed the line in the top three.

'Thankfully, in the interests of staving off boredom, we've seen some mixed-up podiums this season (witness Nelson Piquet's second in the German grand prix). And we got another one at the Hungaroring. As the well-worn saying goes, you have to be in it to win it, and that's exactly how it went for Heikki Kovalainen. Although he conceded a place to Massa at the start, that was mitigated by the fact the McLaren driver was starting on the notoriously dirty side of the grid. Added to that, Massa - unbelievably - was turbocharged, shooting straight past Kovalainen and then catching his team-mate, Hamilton, too. So the Finn was set for a solid third, until that became second when Hamilton suffered a puncture and dropped down the field. Kovalainen kept on pounding round and suddenly, like magic delivered in a cloud of smoke, Massa was out of the race and the flag was Kovalainen's to take.' - Gemma Briggs, The Guardian

'Lewis Hamilton has driven and spoken lately like a man who senses that missing the world title last year was merely destiny deferred by 12 months. It is hard to say whether this race enhanced or harmed that notion as an afternoon of extremes for the Briton produced a middling result.

'With just a couple of minutes remaining, Hamilton's four-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship was about to be erased; come the end, he had extended his advantage by a point. Hamilton experienced both of luck's flavours, but setting chance aside, Ferrari were quick and quick-witted, enough perhaps to check the swelling self-belief in the McLaren Mercedes camp.

'In last year's Hungarian Grand Prix the relationship between Hamilton and Fernando Alonso went up in smoke; yesterday, the defining image was the sight of clouds billowing from the back of Felipe Massa's Ferrari. The home straight, three laps from victory, is never a good place to park. The Brazilian's sudden engine failure allowed Heikki Kovalainen to pinch his maiden Formula One win, with Hamilton recovering well from a puncture suffered midway through to finish fifth.' - Tom Dart, The Times

'"Welcome to the world of winning, the first of many." Heikki Kovalainen has waited a long time to hear those words of congratulation from McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, and on his slowing down lap in yesterday's Hungarian Grand Prix they came as sweet consolation over the onboard radio.

'The Finn scored a surprise victory in a race that should really have been Felipe Massa's, but this time Lady Luck chose to bestow her favours on him after largely ignoring him for most of the season.' - David Tremayneat, The Independent

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