Kovalainen seals maiden F1 win after Massa nightmare
Sunday, 03 Aug 2008 22:10
Kovalainen seals maiden F1 win after Massa nightmare
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen clinched his maiden win after a dramatic finish to the Hungary grand prix.
The Finn took the chequered flag after race leader Felipe Massa's engine blew three laps before the end.
Kovalainen's team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole, finished in fifth place after a puncture.
Toyota's Timo Glock was a shock second while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took third, ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.
The result means Hamilton leads world champion Raikkonen by five points at the top of the drivers' championship.
In a pulsating start to the race, Ferrari's Massa overtook Kovalainen and Hamilton on turn one.
Trailing Brazilian Massa by 4.1 seconds on lap 41, Hamilton suffered a punctured left-front tyre on turn four and was forced back into the pits.
The 23-year-old Briton then launched an assault up the field after re-entering the race in tenth place on super soft tyres.
Meanwhille, Massa looked on course for victory after passing Kovalainen on lap 48.
But in the closing stages, his Ferrari ground to a halt as he powered through the straight and he was forced to retire.
That allowed Kovalainen a clear path to clinch victory in his 28th grand prix, to become the 100th winner in F1 history.
Elsewhere, Renault's Nelson Piquet took fifth, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.
The next race is the Spanish grand prix in Valencia on August 24th.