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Massive engine failure for Massa

Kovalainen leads the race!

Hard luck for Massa

Raikkonen slows and isn't challenging Glock any more. He is over 10 seconds ahead of Alonso

Final lap!

Heikki Kovalainen wins the race ahead of Timo Glock and Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso finishes in 4th ahead Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet, Jarno Trulli and Robert Kubica

Congratulations to Heikki Kovalainen on winning his first Formula 1 race. He was lucky as Hamilton and Massa both hit trouble.
Massa had controlled the race all the way until 3 laps to the end when his engine failed.
Well done to Timo Glock on his first podium finish. A well deserved podium finish particularly after his crash in Germany
Raikkonen pushed once he managed to get ahead of Alonso via the pits. But appears to have been told to slow down after Massa's engine failure.
Alonso manages a credible 4th managing to hold up a much faster Raikkonen.
Hamilton salvaged 5th after suffering what appears to be a tyre failure. Questions will be raised on whether he uses the tyres harder than the others.
Good to see Piquet finishing in the points once again. Trulli makes it 2 Toyotas in the points which is a good sign for them.
Finally Robert Kubica rounds up the top 8. A dissapointing result for him and BMW Sauber as they seem to have dropped back behind Toyota and Renault.

Your thoughts and the driver of the day ?

I don't even know what to say... after such a brillant race, when Massa was about to take the lead of the championship, the final result is depressing.

Much worse that Kova won, because he has been racing a very poor season with the excellent car he has which reached the lowest point at Germany when he took the orders to let hamilton go.

It is quite unfair that Miss Lucky Strike rewarded him so fast, taking Hamilton and Massa from the competition.

Maybe today is a special lucky date at Finland, as Kimi was also rewarded after a lazy weekend.

Sorry being so bitter, but I'm really pissed

Congratulations to Heikki on his first win. It's strange how many drivers get their first win in Hungary . .

Commiserations to Felipe, he showed all his critics and doubters again today that he is a real fighter and will be a worthy World Champion.

A whole host of British commentators need to remember the Adages: Pride comes before a fall, It ain't over till the fat lady sings, don't count your chickens, expect the unexpected, etc. I haven't exactly enjoyed the ITV coverage in the last eighteen months but the build up to this race was particularly jingoistic, puke ridden and lacking any rational judgement or objectivity. I am eternally grateful that I revel in Lewis's achievements and appreciate his talent and am English. If I were a huge fan of any other driver and had to sit through that ITV stuff I would have thrown a very large object through my TV.

Well done Tim O Glock, what an outstanding drive! But my driver of the day has to be Felipe, he was cruely robbed but I am sure he will take a lot of positives from this race. He shoved Lewis's ill considered and conceived words following Hockenheim down his throat! He also carried that recalcitrant car far beyond its reasonable performance level, showing he really does not deserve to be underestimated, written off or taken lightly. The Championship is definately going down to the wire. And you never know, now Heikki has that monkey off his back, perhaps it will turn back into a four way tussle.

BMW may yet salvage something from this season, though both Kubica and I are a little concerned about recent developments or lack of them . . .

It must have been hard on Massa. That was an excellent effort from him. He was agressive at the start and sent Hamilton a clear message.
Hamilton who claimed to have some more in reserve after qualifying couldn't do a thing to Massa. Perhaps Bridgestone needs to make a Hamilton-proof tyre!!
To retire with 3 laps to go with a commanding lead is very tough but Massa should be very pleased with himself.
Maybe it is only fair that Ferrari get an engine failure after all those reported 'illegal' tweaks they have been doing to their engines. Perhaps next race it will be McLaren!

Glock was impressive and of course Alonso too. Keeping Raikkonen behind him took some effort especially that Raikkonen eventualy set the fastest lap of the race

After it looked like Massa took the lead in the championship, all of a sudden Hamilton is still in the lead with Massa 8 points behind!!
I guess even with this result, Hamilton's head shrunk a bit!

Snowy wrote: A whole host of British commentators need to remember the Adages: Pride comes before a fall, It ain't over till the fat lady sings, don't count your chickens, expect the unexpected, etc. I haven't exactly enjoyed the ITV coverage in the last eighteen months but the build up to this race was particularly jingoistic, puke ridden and lacking any rational judgement or objectivity. I am eternally grateful that I revel in Lewis's achievements and appreciate his talent and am English. If I were a huge fan of any other driver and had to sit through that ITV stuff I would have thrown a very large object through my TV.

We get the ITV in Australia and many times I have put the volume on mute when James Allen speaks. Brundle isn't too bad.

It was great to see Allen stuff up big time mistaking Trulli for Glock as he made his stop. Just because Glock's race engineer mentioned Hamilton, Allen just throws all the logic out ... that is blindness for you!!

I hope that when the coverage moves next year to the BBC, it will be less biased!!! (maybe it is wishful thinking!!)

Unlucky Massa. Great move on Kovi & Lewis at the start. Sometimes sh*t just happens though.....

Kovalainen gets my driver of the day vote for getting his first win. Luck may have been on his side today but he was in a position to take advantage of Massa and Hamiltons back luck. Glock getting second was the biggest eye opener for me.

Whats going on with BMW.

The race highlight for me was the Massa pass on Hamilton at the start of the race.

I agree with the comments already made about ITV coverage. The way they carry on about Hamilton makes me want him to stuff up.

I'm interested to find out what caused the refuelling fires. Three in one race.

JayVee wrote:
Maybe it is only fair that Ferrari get an engine failure after all those reported 'illegal' tweaks they have been doing to their engines. Perhaps next race it will be McLaren!

That is a great sentiment JayVee, but you have to remember that this is Ferrari you are talking about.

Massa's engine failure will just give them reason to validate more "minor tweaks" to the engine in the name of reliability.

Greetings F1 fans!

I DID get to see the exciting race in Hungary, but I've been busy for the past few weeks with other things, so only now am responding to the postings on NewsonF1.

Snowy remarked very succinctly on the fatuousness of many Television commentators on F1. Though I don't get ITV (I watch Speed TV's coverage) I can sympathize with you having to put up with Hamilton Worship. (Remember what they did with poor ol' Jense; I imagine he's glad to see the silliness passed on to Lewis)

I thought Fernando's drive in Hungary was under-rated, both on the television coverage I did catch and on this forum (maybe I missed it, or maybe Jay Vee was just being quiet about the Spaniard?). As to F1 becoming too much of a 'parade' owing to the difficulties in overtaking: I think it is a bit overstated. We saw a fair amount of overtaking in the race and not all of it owing to pit strategy.

As to Kimi's supposed waning enthusiasm, I'd say that my guess is he will be in 'do or die' mode in Valencia. As he said post race, it was his own fault that he had such a bad starting position and his effort from 6th, had he chosen the same 'route' as Felipe, he, too, might well have caught Lewis. As it was, he tried the inside path and was unable to get anywhere. He's not ever been a consistent pole taker, but I still like watching him in the race more than anyone else. I believe it was because he, like Michael Schumacher, realizes that in the WDC it is POINTS, not necessarily WINS that count, he was willing to 'settle' for third or fourth rather than risk another race with ZERO points. He knew about Lewis's bad luck and knew, also, that points for the win going to Heikki wouldn't hurt him a bit. It was interesting, for me, to hear his genuine sympathy for Felipe. I think, for Kimi (unlike many others on the grid) racing is pure pleasure and he admires a good drive as much as we all do. I don't think he would have been at all disappointed with a Massa win, even if it meant he wasn't on the podium.

Oh well, enough chatter from the Rocky Mountains for now.

Looking forward to Valencia and hope to see a fight between Fernando and the Ferraris!

Jim Watt