2007 Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix

[Cyco]

Now the FIA is saying that McLaren should not take part in the podium ceremony - this is just ridiculous.

[Jack_Bauer]

Lewis Hamilton claimed his third career victory by leading from pole to flag at the Hungaroring. It was by no means an easy race for Hamilton who had Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari breathing down his neck for pretty much the entire race. Yet despite the intense pressure the rookie didn't crack, and he extends his Championship lead over Fernando Alonso by another 5 points. Kimi Raikkonen rescued a decent 2nd place for Ferrari after what was very forgettable race weekend for the Scuderia. BMW's Nick Heidfeld took a very well deserved 3rd place after starting from the front row.

All the talk before the race surrounded F1's current bad-boy Fernando Alonso. He was starting the race from 6th place in what was clearly a very competitive McLaren car. The Budapest circuit is notoriously difficult to pass on and Alonso knew he needed a good start to get himself into podium contention. He didn't get it. He got away OK and tried to have a look down the inside of Nico Rosberg into turn 1, but simultaneously Rosberg had a look down the inside of Heidfeld's BMW. Alonso erred on the side of caution and backed right off, which allowed Kubica to leap frog Alonso in turn 1. Out front Hamilton got away well but Heidfeld got a poor start which allowed Kimi to make a move around the outside. Bad news for the German, but good news for the race as it immediately released Raikkonen to chase down Hamilton.

Raikkonen and Hamilton exchanged fastest laps throughout the race and the gap between the two never got beyond 4.6 seconds. However, try as he might Kimi just couldn't get close enough to make a move, the tight, twisty nature of the track and the dirty air from Hamilton's McLaren playing their part in this. Ferrari were relying on Hamilton to make a mistake at some point, but the mistake didn't come as Hamilton further enhanced his glowing reputation with a superb faultless performance.

Alonso started to try and claw his way back up the field, but it was proving extremely difficult. He got past Robert Kubica early on but found himself bottled up behind Ralf Schumacher's Toyota. Ralf was having a good weekend and was clearly in no mood to be charitable. The World Champion was clearly frustrated and even ended up running wide off the circuit a couple of times, showing just how hard he was pushing. Alonso could not get past on the circuit and it wasn't until after the second pit stops that Alonso finally got some clear air for himself. Ahead of him both BMWs and Rosberg's Williams were gambling on 3 stop strategies which allowed Alonso to really make headway. Come the final stages of the race he was right on the gearbox of Nick Heidfeld and challenging for a podium, but he could not find a way through and had to settle for 4th. Difficult to say how much time he lost stuck behind Schumacher, but without that he would surely have been on for a podium finish. A frustrating day for Fernando Alonso.

Kubica, Schumacher, Rosberg and Kovalainen rounded out the points, all putting in very good performances. The BMW and Williams teams may regret putting their drivers on 3 stop strategies as they undoubtedly lost out, but then again hindsight is always 20x20. Jarno Trulli was sandwiched inbetween two Red Bulls in 10th place ahead of Fisichella and Massa. Fisichella had a poor weekend, being demoted on the grid yesterday afternoon, and he managed to come into contact with Davidson while exiting the pits which ruined the Super Aguri driver's day. A real tough break for the young Brit who was having probably his best race weekend to date up until that point. Felipe Massa had an absolute nightmare weekend. Somehow he managed to get the setup of his Ferrari completely wrong and was miles off the pace of his teammate in qualy and the race. He struggled all afternoon for nothing more than a dismal 13th place.

Next came Wurz and Sato, followed by Vettel who couldn't repeat his heroics from his F1 debut in Indianapolis. Remarkably in second last place was Adrian Sutil in the Spyker, managing to beat Rubens Barrichello's Honda fair and square. After scoring their first race victory in the modern era this time last year Honda leave Hungary with a dead last place for Rubens and an engine failure for Button. It's just staggering how far the team have managed to fall from grace despite their mammoth budget and decent driving talent.

So after all the controversy, public squabbling and wild media speculation within and around the McLaren team it was left down to Lewis Hamilton to do his talking on the track. He showed yet again that he is genuine championship material despite his inexperience with an absolutely perfect race. Fernando Alonso lost ground in the title race and will surely have lost a lot of respect from his peers and fans after his actions yesterday. There is no doubt he has all the ability to be a triple world champion, but at the moment there are question marks over his temperament. Lewis Hamilton is now back in the box seat for the championship with Raikkonen starting to close down on Alonso as they move on to Istanbul.

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Heidfeld
4. Alonso
5. Kubica
6. Schumacher
7. Rosberg
8. Kovalainen
9. Webber
10. Trulli
11. Coulthard
12. Fisichella
13. Massa
14. Wurz
15. Sato
16. Vettel
17. Sutil
18. Barrichello
ret Liuzzi
ret Davidson
ret Button
ret Yamamoto

[Ferrer]

I don't understand why have Alonso (5 places down the grid) and McLaren (no manufacturers points) been penalised, since they didn't hamper anyones chances excepts themselves with the qualification incident.

I guess Ferrari asked FIA daddy to help them with McLaren bad boys in tyhe playgorund.

Defenitely F1 is boring, on and off the racetrack.

[jediali]

I don't understand why have Alonso (5 places down the grid) and McLaren (no manufacturers points) been penalised, since they didn't hamper anyones chances excepts themselves with the qualification incident.

I guess Ferrari asked FIA daddy to help them with McLaren bad boys in tyhe playgorund.

Defenitely F1 is boring, on and off the racetrack.

only slight wheel contacts and scrappy cornering could raise it above boring. i guess hamilton's uninterupted lead without any real challenges made it more so. hmm shame to see jenson leave on engine problems again.

the politcal domination becoming more and more evident in F1 is at least as bad as it is in football (british particularly).

[fisetdavid26]

I don't understand why have Alonso (5 places down the grid) and McLaren (no manufacturers points) been penalised, since they didn't hamper anyones chances excepts themselves with the qualification incident.

I guess Ferrari asked FIA daddy to help them with McLaren bad boys in tyhe playgorund.

Defenitely F1 is boring, on and off the racetrack.

Agreed. I watched it for 10 minutes, then I turned off the TV and went to sleep. Waking up at 7:30 AM on Sundays to watch such a boring and biased event is definitely not worth it. I used to though, and I liked it. But not anymore.

[Kitdy]

The race proved too early for me as well; I fell asleep right after my alarm went off. Bah.

[Lets Gekiga In]

I don't understand why have Alonso (5 places down the grid) and McLaren (no manufacturers points) been penalised, since they didn't hamper anyones chances excepts themselves with the qualification incident.

I guess Ferrari asked FIA daddy to help them with McLaren bad boys in tyhe playgorund.

Defenitely F1 is boring, on and off the racetrack.

Nah, I would attribute that bull shit to FIA wanting Hamilton to win so badly. FIA's decision certainly favored him quite well.

[Quiggs]

Barring him from scoring points = favoritism?

Oh yea, and F1 sucks.

[Lets Gekiga In]

Barring him from scoring points = favoritism?

Oh yea, and F1 sucks.

You are indeed confused.

They barred McLaren from scoring constructor points. And to punish "the team" they put Alonso back in 6th and Hamilton in pole position. Hamilton won the race and still gained 10 points in the driver's championship. Pay closer attention next time.

Edit: And let's be honest, what driver even gives a shit about the constructor points? Drivers always care about the driver's championship first.

[motorsportnerd]

Nah, I would attribute that bull shit to FIA wanting Hamilton to win so badly. FIA's decision certainly favored him quite well.

Yes, the FIA's decision did favour Hamilton quite well.
But whether it was favouritism is another matter. Depends on your view as to whether Alonso deliberately impeded another driver (Hamilton) by delaying his pit-stop for long enough to prevent that driver from making one last run in qualifying or not. And if Alonso did impede Hamilton was it cheating or brilliant strategy?
Of course, each person has a different view on this.
There is the factor that Hamilton himself ignored team instructions in qualifying, had a very heated argument with his boss and apparantly refused to talk to team members over the weekend. Hamilton himself has stated that he thought the team might have been trying to punish him for ignoring instructions by making him wait behind Alonso. autosport.com - F1 News: Hamilton says Alonso not talking to him
However, the article also notes that Lewis has reasons to think Alonso might deliberately block him.

Hamilton is certainly one of the culprits in this whole episode. Since the actions of both Hamilton and Alonso affected each other and their team, and did not affect any other team, I do feel that the stewards were very harsh with both Alonso's and the team's penalty. There would have been much more action on track if Hamilton and Alonso had started off the front row....
I'd imagine the team will now punish Hamilton in some way. My guess is that he will be stood down for the next test or two - thereby giving Alonso a bit of a leg up.

[fpv_gtho]

Autosport are also claiming McLaren are yet to decide if they'll appeal the constructors points ban. I'd imagine they'd have a fairly strong case, banning constructors points would suggest they'd gained an advantage over another team, not themselves. The Alonso penalty wouldve been sufficient there.

[Matra et Alpine]

The stewards and FIA may have decided it was "bringing the sport into disrepute" and so who gains or not is irrelevant

[Ferrer]

The stewards and FIA may have decided it was "bringing the sport into disrepute" and so who gains or not is irrelevant

In other words, it was making F1 interesting so FIA had to make it boring again.

[Wouter Melissen]

In other words, it was making F1 interesting so FIA had to make it boring again.

What Alonso did was childishly pathetic, and the stewards of the meeting were right to penalize him; you can't expect the team to strip their driver of a pole position. The team order ban is taken way too far though. It's a team sport for pete's sake.

[Ferrer]

What Alonso did was childishly pathetic, and the stewards of the meeting were right to penalize him; you can't expect the team to strip their driver of a pole position. The team order ban is taken way too far though. It's a team sport for pete's sake.

I'm not saying that what Alonso did was right, however he did inject a bit of emotion into what otherwise would've been a completely predictable and dull race (which was due to the stewards penalty).