Click above for a high-res gallery from the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix.
If you had bets placed with your bookie ahead of this year's Hungarian Grand Prix, chances are overwhelming that you lost your money. That's how shocking the final podium was at the culmination of the 11th round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. You might have been just as surprised if you had been watching the race up until the final laps when everything went topsy-turvy. If you've got the race TiVo'd, we'd advise you to go no further. But if you're keen to see how the grand prix turned out and where the results leave the race for this year's championship, read on.
[Source: Autosport]
All sorts of things can happen over the course of a race distance. If not, the qualifying results on Saturday would more closely mirror the final standings on Sunday afternoon. But with the skill levels of the top drivers so closely matched and the stresses placed on their cars so extreme, almost anything can happen.
When the lights flashed green this past Sunday morning, the pair of McLarens driven by Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were on the front row. Felipe Massa, in the number two Ferrari, slipped by both of them immediately to take a lead that he would hold for the bulk of the race. With his team-mate (otherwise known, in the world of F1, as his first rival) Kimi Raikkonen relegated to the sixth spot on the grid, behind Robert Kubica's BMW and Timo Glock's Toyota, Massa's biggest competition came from championship leader Lewis Hamilton. However things did not end well for either of the front-runners.
Opening up a commanding lead over the McLarens, Massa emerged from the first round of pit-stops well ahead of both Hamilton and Kovalainen, the former re-emerging behind Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. Then all Hell his front tire broke lose with a puncture on lap 41, dropping him back to tenth place by the time the tire was replaced. As Massa continued to add to his lead over second place Kovalainen, it seemed all but given that the Brazilian would take the checkered flag. But on the third to last lap Felipe's engine went up in flames as he passed the pit lane, forcing the young Ferrari driver to retire disappointed. With Hamilton still caught up in traffic, Kovalainen sailed to the finish line, marking the young Finn's first victory and crowning him the 100th race winner in the history of Formula One.
Joining Heikki on the podium in second place was no less of a surprise as reigning GP2 champion Timo Glock proving his mettle with his first podium finish, landing a remarkable second place for Toyota. Raikkonen worked his way up the field to finish third and round out the podium.
Fernando Alonso rolled his Renault over the finish line in fourth, his team-mate Nelson Piquet in sixth with Hamilton sandwiched in fifth place. Raikkonen set the fastest lap once again, proving superiority of his skills and the Ferrari's pace independently of wheel-to-wheel circumstances. The results still leave Hamilton in the lead with 62 points to Raikkonen's 57 and Massa's 54, as Ferrari retains its lead in the constructors' title at 111 points to McLaren's 100.
2008 Hungarian Grand Prix
1. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
2. Glock Toyota
3. Raikkonen Ferrari
4. Alonso Renault
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
6. Piquet Renault
7. Trulli Toyota
8. Kubica BMW Sauber
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber
11. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault
12. Button Honda
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota
14. Rosberg Williams-Toyota
15. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari
16. Barrichello Honda
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari
18. Massa Ferrari
Fastest lap:
Raikkonen, 1:21.195
Not classified/retirements:
Sutil Force India-Ferrari
Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
World Championship standings
(after 11 rounds)
Drivers:
1. Hamilton 62
2. Raikkonen 57
3. Massa 54
4. Kubica 49
5. Heidfeld 41
6. Kovalainen 38
7. Trulli 22
8. Alonso 18
9. Webber 18
10. Glock 13
11. Piquet 13
12. Barrichello 11
13. Rosberg 8
14. Nakajima 8
15. Vettel 6
16. Coulthard 6
17. Button 3
18. Bourdais 2
Constructors:
1. Ferrari 111
2. McLaren-Mercedes 100
3. BMW Sauber 90
4. Toyota 35
5. Renault 31
6. Red Bull-Renault 24
7. Williams-Toyota 16
8. Honda 14
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CORVETTE ZR1 @ Aug 4th 2008 9:08AM
Very Cool race to watch... What a wild Finish !!!
Matty @ Aug 4th 2008 12:35PM
Man after all of that exciting racing, I may have to trade my ZR-1/ GT-R/ Aston for an MP4-23!!!!!
Biomech @ Aug 4th 2008 9:13AM
I was so excited to see Massa win, then his engine blew and I literally screamed out in shock. He deserved that win... a really great race though.
Ben @ Aug 4th 2008 9:38AM
It was a fantastic race.
I'm pretty sure that the reason the Ferrari got out to such a good opening sprint was because of the TQ control mechanism on the McLaren, which was restricting TQ in order to gain traction, which ended up hurting performance when the Ferrari grabbed hard. Kind of dumb if you ask me, this is essentially traction control.
Mobius_1 @ Aug 4th 2008 9:28PM
I was on the verge of tears, and was totally confused by Kimi Raikonnen setting the fastest lap when it didn't really matter
Can't wait for Valencia (and more so, Singapore) though
Pdexter @ Aug 4th 2008 9:39AM
Can't say that i'm biggest fan of Massa(being finnish i cheer for Kimi and Kovalainen of course), but i really felt sorry for him as he had driven one great race.
Plus i really wouldn't mind if Kimi started to push that pedal all the way down from the start of the race, not at the last stint....
Brad @ Aug 4th 2008 9:42AM
it didn't look like Ferrari could equal McLaren's pace through practice and qualifying so I was very surprised when Massa pulled away from Hamilton.
I don't know what's wrong with Kimi. He waits until the last 10 laps or so of the race and then starts driving the wheels off of the thing. He must have gotten complacent since he has his championship.
Glad to see Glock take his first podium. Especially since he had that bad crash in Germany two weeks ago when the car failed.
JD @ Aug 4th 2008 10:17AM
What a terrible finish for Massa. He was screaming! I think he really took Hamilton by surprise into turn 1, that was one of the best passes I've seen this season- getting by Heikki was no surprise, since he's not particularly good at the whole starting thing, but scootching by Hamilton in turn 1 was awesome. He had that dominant lead, only to have the engine let go. That was an anvil from the sky! Ferrari engines are about as reliable as they get, what a shame. I don't know what was up with Kimi, but he had a pretty good recovery after his poor qualifying performance.
Is anyone else as amused as I am when both Kimi and Heikki are in the press conference afterwards and the difference between their speech is so apparent, despite their shared homeland? Kimi seems like his jaw is wired shut! Lol.
Franz @ Aug 4th 2008 12:10PM
That pass was amazing. No doubt. Probably the best start I've seen this year (Lewis' start at Silverstone comes close though). Even Hamilton had to be honest about it, saying he had a pretty good start, but Massa's was just better.
Zane @ Aug 4th 2008 10:35AM
WTF is up with image #12?
Filip @ Aug 4th 2008 1:10PM
Crazy fans of the flying Finns freaking out after a fantastic Finnish finish. 'Nuff said? :)
Really, Hungary is inofficially the "Finnish Grand Prix" in Formula 1 with Finnish drivers driving well on that track (no joke), and lots of Finns catching flights to Hungary to enjoy the F1 race each year.
Franz @ Aug 4th 2008 10:37AM
I'm a big McLaren fan, but I really felt sorry for Massa. He ran a great race: lightning fast start and great pace throughout. But I have to say I'm quite pleased that Heikki got his first win. He was overdue some good luck. A bit of bad luck for Lewis, but at least he managed to salvage some points. The only thing that worries me is that the McLaren is the only car in the entire field that seems to be plagued with tire failures.
I've come to the conclusion that the setup on Kimi's car doesn't go well with heavy fuel loads. His car always seems to come alive in the latter stages of the race. I was looking forward to him having a go at Glock too, but he dialed it back after Massa's engine went bang. Shame. It was a good race though, but I'm sure a few simple minded people will say it wasn't just because there wasn't a lot of overtaking. To me, any race is so much more than just passing.
Brad @ Aug 4th 2008 2:29PM
From a Ferrari fan to a McLaren fan, nice post. :)
I was glad to see Heikki win also. Makes up for all his troubles last year at Renault when he was nearly kicked off of the team.
jason @ Aug 4th 2008 10:51AM
The turn 1 pass was one of the most awesome things I have seen. Usually F1 starts are exciting, but when Masa took the brake point to the max(and then some) to go around on the outside and make it stick, pretty sure my jaw dropped.
I'm a huge Massa fan, when his engine blew I couldn't take it and had to change the channel with 3 laps to go, I can't imagine how he felt.
I thought it was odd the Kimi at the point where his equipment would seemingly be at the weakest point starts to be faster, and this has occurred in the last few races. Why couldn't he be as fast right before his last pit as he is at the very end of the race.
Michael @ Aug 4th 2008 3:10PM
Matty, lol!!!
nmt @ Aug 4th 2008 5:14PM
Did anyone but me get the feeling Massa was driving for his job yesterday? I'd say regardless of the engine failure he made his point. That being said, if I were Ferrari, I'd still be looking to hire Alonso, Kubica or both for next year, who in my view are probably the two best drivers in F1.
I felt bad for Robert Kubica who put in a heroic qualifying lap to snag 4th and then after the first round of stops is stuck back in 10th due to nothing but bad luck. He managed to claw his way back to 8th on the track.
Logik @ Aug 4th 2008 8:35PM
MAS is an excellent driver, that has done well for Ferrari. I mean, as much as anyone would like to deny it; he did hand the championship to RAI last year at Interlagos. Last year, he trailed RAI by 16 points at the end of the season; and he's even closer now, at 3 points. Once RAI is out of Ferrari, it will be MAS' time to be #1 driver. Of course, there's still much time, and anything can happen between now and then.
tom @ Aug 7th 2008 11:00AM
Massa deserved victory.