Massa passes Hamilton at the start of the race

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Lewis Hamilton has expressed relief that his lead in the World Championship is still intact after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Despite starting from pole position, the McLaren Mercedes driver was passed by Felipe Massa on the opening lap, the Ferrari driver then extending his lead over the Englishman to five seconds.

Hamilton then appeared set to lose the lead in the Drivers' Championship when he fell down the order after suffering a puncture on lap 41.

However, the luck of both Hamilton and McLaren changed decisively when Massa suffered an engine failure three laps from the chequered flag.

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen thus inherited a first F1 victory, with Hamilton's fifth place resulting in a five-point Championship lead over Kimi Raikkonen.

After starting sixth on the grid, the latter upped his pace in the latter stages of the race and eventually finished third at the Hungaroring behind Toyota's Timo Glock.

"It was not as bad as it could have been, and not as good either," Hamilton said.

"I think I drove well. I didn't make any mistakes, it's just that I had a puncture.

"I brought the car home as safe as possible, scored as many points as I could, so there's not much more you can ask for.

"It's just unfortunate I was the one to get a puncture, and it was a case of 'Oh no, not again'.

"I had it three times last year, or whatever, and that's what lost me the championship.

"It can be very, very costly, but the fact Kimi didn't win, Heikki did and (Timo) Glock was second means I'm quite happy because they have taken points off everyone else.

"Above all it's been a great day for Heikki. I know what it feels like to get your first grand prix win. It's a very special day for him."

Disappointing start

Given the form of both driver and car of late, Hamilton also admitted that losing first place to Massa at the opening corner of the race was "disappointing".

But he disputed the notion that McLaren have placed a bigger gap in terms of performance between themselves and Ferrari.

"I had one of my best ever starts, but Felipe had an even better one," Hamilton explained.

"I covered my ground on the inside. He locked up and then turned, so I thought we were going to touch, so I slowed down even more.

"He pulled it off, and I lost a place - and it won't happen again.

"Ferrari were strong, although if we had been out in front then it perhaps would have been a little different.

"But they showed some really strong pace, which we knew they had. It's just you guys (the media) seem to think there is a huge difference.

"When I was then told about what happened to Massa, I didn't think much of it other than it was an extra place for me, which is good.

"My lead is bigger now, and you would never have thought that with all that has gone on this year."