FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY - RESULTS

Who'da pest in Budapest? Don't blame the Hungaroring for the struggles of Ferrari's Felipe Massa or McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Tires, engines, and fires competed for pest position at Formula 1's Grand Prix in Hungary.

Round 11 of 18 is over and done with and McLaren-Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen has his first F1 victory. Heikki has underperformed on race day most weekends so far this season, but with teammate Lewis Hamilton dropping back from 2nd to 12th after a tire puncture and Ferrari's Felipe Massa retiring mid-track with just three laps remaining, Kovalainen and his Mercedes V8-engined F1 racecar continued with the formula: consistency. 

Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari appeared to be in a fine state of tune judging by his fast laps near the end of the race. Kimi seems to lack motivation presently and this resulted in the lowest rung of the podium in a race where he likely could've challenged for the top spot. Widely considered to be Kimi's most able competitor for top driver on the circuit, Lewis Hamilton held pole position; was knocked back by Felipe Massa only to be frustrated by a puncture; and eventually roared his way back to 5th.

Ah, but who finished second? Though Timo Glock didn't challenge Kovalainen on the final laps for first place, he drove his Toyota expertly, garnering the Japanese giant spender its second podium finish of the season. Also in the points was Glock's teammate, Jarno Trulli, who captured 7th spot. Toyota engines also power the Williams cars of Kazuki Nakajima (13th) and Nico Rosberg (14th). 

Fernando Alonso kept Lewis Hamilton at bay near the end of the race when the McLaren-Mercedes came a'charging at Alonso's Renault. Hamilton was craving every point possible having seen the damage a Massa win - combined with a Hamilton 12th - would have on his championship drive. The McLaren-Mercedes' tires weren't great and Alonso race his Renault well to hang on to fourth. Fernando's teammate, Nelsinho Piquet, made good on the promise he represented a couple weeks back in Germany with his 6th place finish. Renault engines in the Red Bull F1 racers survived the race: Mark Webber finished 9th and soon-to-retire David Coulthard made up two positions from his 13th place qualifying run.

BMW's challenge for the constructor's championship wasn't significantly aided by Nick Heidfeld's 10th place result and only one point was collected by Robert Kubica's 8th place run. 

Jenson Button was a lap back of the winner in his Honda, finishing his stint in Budapest in 12th. That's plenty better than the other Honda driver, Rubens Barichello, who was two laps back in 16th. Rubens and Jenson need some rain to level the playing field. Honda isn't on point.

Sebastian Vettel completed just 22 laps and was the first to retire. His Ferrari-powered Scuderia Tora Rossa had qualified 11th. STR-Ferrari's Seb (with an a) Bourdais was three laps back from Kovalainen's winning car in 18th. Force India's Ferrari V8-engined cars, the only F1 team without seamless-shift on their gearboxes, captured 15th and a retirement. Fisichella finished; Sutil did not.

Ferrari is now 11 points ahead of McLaren-Mercedes in the team championship. More reliability questions like that which was posed by Massa's Ferrari on the 67th lap restrict F1 watchers from handing the crown to Ferrari. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton's excessive tire wear - he is partially responsible for the way his tires react - could lose him more points. Lewis hangs on to first place in the driver's standings; five points ahead of Raikkonen. Massa is another three back while BMW's Kubica is five behind Massa. Only Fisichella and Sutil's Force India cars remain as cars that have failed to collect points; in addition to the defunct Super Aguri Hondas of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato.

Let's hope for fewer flames in the pits at the 2008 Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia on the 24th of August, links to which will be posted here at GoodCarBadCar.net: free, live, and streaming online.