Hamilton: increases championship lead

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Lewis Hamilton extracted maximum benefit from his controversial Hungarian GP pole position, scoring victory after fighting off the attentions of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

The pair were in a race of their own at the Hungaroring, with the young Briton not putting a wheel wrong as he withstood periods of sustained pressure from the Finn.

Starting second on the grid, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was passed by Raikkonen at the start and eventually finished in third place.

Heidfeld's closing laps were spent fending off world champion Fernando Alonso, who finished fourth after starting sixth on the grid - the latter position handed him by race stewards following qualifying.

Punishment

The Spaniard had taken pole, but his decision to remain static in the pitlane before setting his quickest time on Saturday - thus denying Hamilton the chance to improve - was punished.

And, having claimed that the delay was, in part, caused by an attempt to put right a qualifying procedure thrown awry by Hamilton, McLaren were also punished, and cannot claim constructors' points.

The team nevertheless still enjoy a 19-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors' standings, but the main beneficiary of the afternoon was the race winner.

Hamilton's third F1 victory sees him placed seven points ahead of Alonso with six races to go, with Raikkonen's second place pushing him ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa.

The latter trailed home 13th after struggling to overcome his 14th place on the grid at the tight Budapest circuit.

Its twisting confines often yield a winner from the front row of the grid - a fact that boosted the importance of Hamilton's pole yet further.

A good start was also vital and, once made, Hamilton and Raikkonen pulled away from Heidfeld, trading fastest laps as they went.

In contrast, and after dropping two places behind Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber and Mark Webber's Red Bull on lap one, Alonso was left behind.

He quickly repassed both, but then spent the first two stints of the race losing ground behind the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher.

Alonso frequently was right on the German's tail but, at such a tight circuit, he was unable to find a way past.

Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted in tandem at the start of lap 20 and, such was their lead, the pair rejoined in first and second places.

Hamilton's lead - which stood at 4.8 seconds by lap 16 - was reined in during his middle stint, with Raikkonen coming to within a second of the McLaren by lap 38.

But the leader managed to increase his pace slightly ahead of the second stops and, with Raikkonen pitting four laps ahead of Hamilton on lap 46, the gap increased once more.

McLaren led Ferrari by some four seconds with 18 laps remaining, but Hamilton's car didn't appear as comfortable on Bridgestone's softer compound tyre - and the gap again came down.

Nerve

But all Hamilton had to do now was keep his nerve - something the youngster has shown himself perfectly capable of doing during his meteoric F1 career.

After freeing himself from the shackles of Schumacher during their second stops, Alonso used the luxury of a clear road to close on the three-stopping Heidfeld - but again the door was firmly closed.

Kubica also three stopped to fifth, ahead of Schumacher, with the Williams team's decision to three-stop Nico Rosberg backfiring somewhat: the young German finishing seventh from fourth on the grid.

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen took the final point, with Red Bull's David Coulthard coming home 11th.

But, twelve months after scoring his first, and so far only, grand prix win, Jenson Button retired with an engine failure on lap 35, having spent the race at the back of the field.

Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson lasted six laps longer, before a collision with the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella after the latter's pit stop saw him retire at the exit of turn one.

Hungarian GP, result:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1hr 35mins 52.991secs, 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:35:53.706, 3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:36:36.120, 4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:36:37.849, 5 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36:40.607, 6 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:36:43.600, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:36:52.130, 8 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:37:01.095, 9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:37:09.322, 10 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 1 Lap, 11 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull at 1 Lap, 12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault at 1 Lap, 13 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari at 1 Lap, 14 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams at 1 Lap, 15 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri at 1 Lap, 16 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker at 2 Laps, 18 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda at 2 Laps Not classified: 19 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 42 Laps completed, 20 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri 41 Laps completed, 21 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 35 Laps completed, 22 Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Spyker 4 Laps completed

Leading World Championship Standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix

Drivers: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 80pts, 2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 73, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 60, 4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 59, 5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 42, 6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 28, 7 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17, 8 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 16, 9 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 13, 10 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 8, 11 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 8, 12 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 7, 13 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 7, 14 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 5, 15 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 4, 16 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1, 17 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1

Manufacturers: 1 McLaren 138pts, 2 Ferrari 119, 3 BMW Sauber 71, 4 Renault 33, 5 Williams 20, 6 Red Bull 16, 7 Toyota 12, 8 Super Aguri 4, 9 Honda 1