2009 Formula 1 : Hamilton ends drought in Hungary

2009 F1 Hungarian GP Winner - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes

BUDAPEST, Hungary : July 26, 2009 - Reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) took the lead on the eleventh lap of the Hungarian GP and ran away to the finish.

Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen was close behind in second but Hamilton pulled away lap after lap to cross the line a handy 11.5 seconds ahead. Mark Webber, the winner for Red Bull last time out in Germany, was a distant third, 16.8 sec behind Hamilton.

The resurgent McLaren team was the top-scorer of the day, taking 14 points out of Brawn GP's 114 point lead as Hamilton's team mate Heikki Kovalainen came home fifth. It was the first win for a KERS-equipped car and Hamilton moved up to eighth place on the log - still a massive 51 points behind leader Jenson Button.

The Briton battled with poor handling on his Brawn-Mercedes and was lucky to finish seventh and pick up two points. Mark Webber is second on 51,5 points with team mate Sebastian Vettel third on 47.

Fernando Alonso (Renault) came off pole and into the first corner at the Hungaroring with his lead intact on Sunday afternoon.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) surged from fourth on the grid to battle with Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) for second in the first right-hander. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) went a bit wide in the first corner and there was contact with Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault).

At the end of the first lap, Alonso was leading from Webber, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota), Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) and Vettel with championship leader Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) down in ninth. Button's team mate Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) was down in 18th place!

"Possible front wing damage," said Vettel over the car-to-pit radio as Button got past Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) to eighth. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) returned to the pits and then his car was wheeled back into the garage with water pressure problems.

On the second lap, Alonso had already pulled out a 1.8 sec gap over Webber, with Hamilton just 0.6 sec behind the Australian. By the third lap, Alonso was 2.3 sec clear after setting a lap of 1'24.436 while Webber was holding up Hamilton on this circuit which is notorious for few overtaking opportunities.

On lap 4, Hamilton got into Webber's slipstream down the main straight and got past in Turn 1 as Alonso increased his lead with a fastest lap of 1'25.529. Alonso had started the race with a massive 18kg less fuel than some of the other front-runners, and was expected to pit for fuel in under 12 laps.

On lap 5, Hamilton had a clear track for the first time and set the fastest time of all in the first sector to set a new fastest lap of 1'23.218 as he took half a second out of Alonso's 2.5 sec lead. The world champion posted a 1'23.207 on the seventh lap.

Alonso's right rear tyre was graining badly, and Hamilton reduced the gap to 1.4 sec on the eighth lap as Webber dropped to 2.6 sec behind. Räikkönen was another second behind, followed by Rosberg and Kovalainen. Webber wasn't done yet, and set a new fastest lap of 1'23.190.

Räikkönen was the sole Ferrari driver after his team mate Felipe Massa was struck on the head by a suspension spring off Barrichello's car during qualifying. Massa was hospitalised with serious skull and eye injuries but reports were that he was in a stable condition.

On lap 11, race leader Alonso pitted for tyres and fuel, releasing Hamilton into the lead, setting a new fastest lap of 1'22.868

A lap after leaving the pits, Alonso's right front wheel came off and he had to return to the pits once more where he retired as race leader Hamilton posted a new fastest lap of 1'22.479.

Championship leader Button had Nakajima right behind him again, the Japanese obviously wanting his seventh place back again. Button pitted on lap 20, taking on the supersoft tyres in a 10.3 sec stop. Rosberg rejoined the track ahead of Webber, but the Red Bull driver attacked in the first left-hander and moved ahead.

On lap 27, Vettel went into the pits for a new front wing and also to have his front and rear suspension checked in a long, slow stop.

19-year-old Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari), in his first-ever Formula One race, making him the youngest driver in history, made his first pit stop on lap 29. He was in a very respectable 13th place when he pitted.

Three laps after his last pit stop, Vettel was back in the pits again. This time they wheeled the car back into the garage and retirement.

Button's world championship was going backwards. After winning four of the first five race this season, he was now out of the points down in ninth place and 39.4 sec behind race leader Hamilton. Both Brawn drivers battled with low tyre temperatures and resultant poor performances in Britain and Germany, but at this circuit there was no tyre temperature problem and the cars were in ninth and 13th place.

Back at the front, Hamilton had doubled his lead over Räikkönen to six seconds as fans watched a McLaren and a Ferrari in the two top spots for the first time since last October. Webber was 19 sec behind the leader followed by Kovalainen +19.5, Rosberg +21.1 and Timo Glock (Toyota) +35.3

Despite Räikkönen setting a new personal best time of 1'23.010 on the 38th lap, he could only watch as Hamilton got further ahead. He was pushing hard and leaving black stripes on the road as he powered out of the corners.

Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) spun off in turn 2, but was able to rejoin the race without damage. He was the last runner.

On lap 42, Hamilton set a new fastest time in the first sector and opened up his lead over Räikkönen to 7.4 sec as fifth-placed Rosberg closed up on Kovalainen who was just 0.7 sec ahead. The Finn pitted on lap 44 to take on new tyres and more fuel. Räikkönen pitted on the next lap but when his pit crew flagged him away, there was a delay as the Finn failed to select a gear. He eventually found first and pulled away after having lost a few seconds.

Race leader Hamilton stopped on lap 47, switching to the harder of the two tyre compounds and losing 8.3 sec of track time.

Nelson Piquet (Renault) got up the inside of Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) at the end of the main straight on lap 53 and got past into 12th.

On lap 57, championship leader Button was out of the points in ninth place and 11.4 sec behind team mate Barrichello.

Barrichello pitted and dropped to 10th place, but he was very close behind both Nakajima and Trulli and just 1.2 sec away from a championship point.

With five laps left, Hamilton had over 15 sec over Räikkönen, but the Finn was coming under pressure from Webber who was five seconds behind but had just set the fastest lap of the race - 1'21.931 - the first sub-82 second time of the afternoon.

2009 F1 Hungarian GP Winner - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes

Race Result : Formula 1 - 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time	Pts
1	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38:23.876	10
2	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+11.5 secs	8
3	14	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	+16.8 secs	6
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+26.9 secs	5
5	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	+34.3 secs	4
6	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	+35.2 secs	3
7	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	+55.0 secs	2
8	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+68.1 secs	1
9	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	+68.7 secs	-
10	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	+69.2 secs	-
11	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+70.6 secs	-
12	8	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	+71.5 secs	-
13	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+74.0 secs	-
14	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes	+1 Lap	-
15	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	+1 Lap	-
16	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	+1 Lap	-
Ret	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	+41 Laps	-
Ret	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+55 Laps	-
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	+69 Laps	-

Driver Championship Standings :

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Jenson Button	British	Brawn-Mercedes	70
2	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	51.5
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	47
4	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Brawn-Mercedes	44
5	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams-Toyota	25.5
6	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	22.5
7	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	22
8	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	19
9	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	18
10	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	16
11	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	13
12	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren-Mercedes	9
13	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	6
14	Sebastien Buemi	Swiss	STR-Ferrari	3
15	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	2
16	Sebastien Bourdais	French	STR-Ferrari	2
17	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India-Mercedes	0
18	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams-Toyota	0
19	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	0
20	Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	0

Constructor Championship Standings :

Pos	Team	Points
1	Brawn-Mercedes	114
2	RBR-Renault	98.5
3	Ferrari	40
4	Toyota	38.5
5	McLaren-Mercedes	28
6	Williams-Toyota	25.5
7	Renault	13
8	BMW Sauber	8
9	STR-Ferrari	5
10	Force India-Mercedes	0

[Source : Super Wheels , Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, F1 Official]