Hamilton Relieved To Keep Lead Despite Puncture

Budapest, Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton was relieved on Sunday that his puncture in the Hungarian Grand Prix was offset by a spectacular engine failure for Brazilian rival Felipe Massa.

McLaren’s British driver, whose front left tyre burst during the race’s middle section, had been set to surrender his world championship lead to Ferrari’s Massa.

With three laps remaining, however, Massa came to a sudden halt in front of the grandstand, allowing Hamilton’s team mate Heikki Kovalainen to glide past for an unexpected maiden win.

“It was not as bad as it could have been, and not as good either,” said Hamilton after finishing fifth to pick up four points and move five clear of Massa’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa dropped into third place, a further three points back, after being deprived of what had seemed like a certain 10 points.

“They just told me about the possibility of oil on the start-finish straight,” Hamilton said when asked what he had heard on the car radio about his rival’s misfortune.

“I didn’t think much of it other than it was an extra place for me, which is good.

“It’s just unfortunate that I was the one to get a puncture. I had it three times last year, or whatever it was, and that’s what really lost me the championship.

“So it was a case of ‘oh no, not again’ but it actually helps that Heikki has won and (Toyota’s Timo) Glock was second. They are taking points off everyone else so I’m quite happy.”

Positive Outlook

Massa was also looking for positives despite suffering what he described as one of the most frustrating results of his career.

“It’s a really bad feeling after having such a perfect race until then, but the confidence is there,” said Massa, who made a spectacular start to Sunday’s race, overtaking both Hamilton and Kovalainen on the opening turn.

“It’s not the result that counts after a race like that. What counts is what we did during the race. We showed great performance, great pace and great team work so it’s all very good for the next races.”

Ferrari and McLaren will have an extra week to work on the lessons learned in Hungary as Formula One enters its mid-season break, reconvening for the Valencia Grand Prix on Aug. 24.

“We obviously cannot say that we have everything one hundred percent right,” acknowledged Massa. “We have to push very hard with the car’s development and reliability, but we will have three weeks in the factory to improve it now.

“The most important thing is that there are still seven races to go and we are still in contention for the championship.”

Tags: Budapest