In a crazy race full of suprises and heartbreak, Heikki Kovalainen wins his first F1 race and takes the Hungarian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa was dominant - and should have won - until a mechanical failure with 3 laps left took him out of the race. McLaren ace Lewis Hamilton battled performance issues and a flat tire at the half way point to limp in at 5th position. Timo Glock capped off a great weekend and held off a charging Kimi Raikonnen to take his first podium coming in second place. Kimi also benefitted from Massa's engine failure moving into 3rd place with a great run in the last 15 laps.

Massa jumped out to a quick lead with an amazing start and just kept pulling away from the field. It looked like Hamiton was riding with an anchor in his cockpit as Massa just whipped past and never looked back. What a heart break for Massa. His car was great and he was taking no risks. Word has not come in yet as to what happened to his car. What a bummer for Ferrari.

BMW was once again a non-factor as Kubica came in 8th and Heidfeld 10th. If not for Massa's engine failure, BMW would have been shut out of the points. What a fall from grace for the would-be third competative constructor. Toyota appears ready to take that position from BMW with a 2nd (Glock) and 7th place (Trulli) finish.

It was a race full of luck - both good and bad - that lead to an absolutely crazy finish. It looked like Massa would snag the World Championship points lead from Lewis Hamilton, but then ended up retiring from an unsurmountable lead with only 3 laps remaining. What should have resulted in a 4 point Championship lead for Massa ends up dropping him to 3rd in the points race. Absolutely shocking.

So nothing really changes in F1 this week in terms of the World Championship points race. Lewis Hamilton actually extends his lead by 1 point to 5 points over Kimi. But the constructor race tightens up with McLaren running only 11 points behind Ferrari. In the end, McLaren must rue a lost oppotunity to deliver a knock out punch to Ferrari by finishing 1 - 2.

3 Weeks until Spain. All of the top teams have a lot to think about.

Stock Rising: Toyota, Renault

Stock Falling: BMW

 

Crazy what happened to Massa. His pace had me thinking that Ferrari had got back in stride with Mclaren. But, alas, his unfortunate engine failure showed that the team has some reliability issues to deal with on top of trying to catch-up to Mclaren since Silverstone. The difference in Massa's pace and Kimi's (and Mclaren for that matter) pace was really odd, and I was surprised that the guys on the pit wall didn't see anything in the telemetry.

On to Lewis - I am pleased with his points contribution under the circumstances. The hairiest moment for me was when he was coming into the pits on the flat. All I could think of as he dove in was a repeat of China '07.

Let's talk about Lewis's pit-strategy. What if Mclaren had put him on the option tyre and fueled him for 20 or so laps for his second stint?

Going to be an exciting second-half.

 

I guess it's just you and I Alex. Others won't admit that God favors Lewis Hamilton as well!

What was Massa running in that thing??? Moonshine?

 

just watched it this morning. Massa can't seem to catch a break. Pretty boring race otherwise.

 

The way I see it, Massa had to push like crazy since Ferrari knew they were lighter than Lewis and Heikki (they were probably surprised that Lewis came in 1 lap after Felipe). His ridiculous early pace could be attributed to him finding that sweet spot. The pace may also have been a surprise to the team, but historically, when cars are inexplicably faster than they have been, it is a sign that the lump is getting ready to go.

 

It was definitely tough luck.

The track is a let down and shouldn't be used in this format. It makes for a fun quali though.

I guess I am too emotionally involved in F1, because I was all over the place; from hoping for a Mclaren 1, 2, to being amazed by Massa's pace and resigning myself to a Mclaren 2, 3. Then the tyre problem, Massa's engine expiring, HK taking the checkered flag, and finally Mclaren's jump in the points standings.