Hamilton wins, Alonso still saves 4th place

F1 Grand Prix, GP Hungary, Hungaroring

Lewis Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix after leading from start to finish. He was continuously challenged by Kimi Raikkonen but it was the wrong circuit for the Finn and therefore could not pass the McLaren. A similar story holds for Heidfeld who comes in third, just ahead of Alonso who just couldn't attempt a passing on the German.

Somehow it feels like this race has already started before the actual start was given. With Alonso being relegated to 6th on the grid after the events at McLaren dring qualifying, the Spaniard will have to put in an incredible effort to regain his well earned pole position from the stewards who penalised him. The World Champion is said to be furious about the decision and might well be in for a surprise.

As the lights go off, Raikkonen makes a very good start and moves up to second place. Rosberg also made a very good departure as he also moves up a place. Alonso and Massa do not and both lose an extra position after some slipping in the first lap. 2 laps further however, Alonso has again passed Kubica and Webber and is closing in on Ralf Schumacher.

Only 4 laps later, Yamamoto is out as he crashed his Spyker into the barriers.

8 laps in the race Hamilton is 4 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, a gap that Hamilton thanks to the first 3 laps of the race. From then on, the Ferrari proved to be slightly faster. Behind them there is already 7 seconds until Heidfeld passes with 5 more to Rosberg. Up front both men are driving as hard as they can, trading fastest laps between each other.

From the front runners, Heidfeld and Alonso are the first to come in. Alonso is fitted with used prime tyres and rather heavily charged on fuel in a stop that takes 9.1 seconds. 2 laps later with 19 completed, Hamilton and Raikkonen pit and their order remains unchanged. The difference between the two however shrunk to 1.9s.

In lap 32 Rosberg is the first to take his second pitstop while Felipe Massa did not even come in for his first one. The latter is in 3 laps later and is fitted with the softer tyre compound. He will have to stop another time.

With 21 laps to go, Hamilton is solidly in the lead as Raikkonen took his second stop 3 laps before. Alonso is meanwhile also able to push a little bit extra as Ralf Schumacher pitted in lap 47. Both McLaren's pit in lap 50 and are both fitted with the soft compound. Hamilton is easily ahead of Raikkonen while Alonso jumps Ralf after having trailed him for most of the race so far.

While both BMW Saubers and Rosberg enter the pit to fit the super-soft tyres for the 15 final laps, Raikkonen closes in on Hamilton and is only 5 tenths behind the McLaren. The stops put Alonso just in between the BMW's in fourth place, only 8 tenths down on Heidfeld and 2 seconds ahead of Kubica.

Both duels remained however unchanged as it proves how hard it is to close in to a car and overtake him. Hamilton therefore wins the race, ahead of Raikkonen. Alonso also didn't get past Heidfeld and loses 5 more points to Hamilton in the championship.