A disgruntled Alonso saw his gap to Hamilton increase to seven championship points. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

From then on the field settled, with Raikkonen keeping Hamilton on sight. Proving he was light on fuel to take pole, Alonso was the first frontrunner to stop on lap 17. Ralf followed him one lap later, and was able to emerge ahead of the Spaniard.

Hamilton and Raikkonen came in simultaneously on the 19th lap, when Ferrari short-filled the Finn to no avail: the Brit retained the lead. Kubica also pitted on the same lap, and was able to gain on the pits the positions of Ralf and Alonso.

On lap 32, Rosberg, fourth after the first round of pits, went for his second stop, hinting at a three-stop strategy. Sato also pitted on that lap, three laps before Massa, finally allowing the Brazilian to gain the position.

Lap 37 saw the retirement of last year's Hungarian GP winner Jenson Button, again let down by Honda's poor reliability. Five laps later Kubica made his second stop, and the short-filling that gained him spots in the first round of pits took its toll, as the Pole lost his spot to Alonso, who didn't come back in until lap 50.

Eight laps before, a clash between Anthony Davidson's Aguri and Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault caused the Brit to spin exiting Turn 1. No safety car was deployed despite Davidson's car being stranded in a delicate place. One lap later it was Tonio Liuzzi's turn to retire yet again with mechanical problems on his Toro Rosso.

On the 46th lap Raikkonen made his second stop, four laps before than Hamilton who thus emerged with a comfortable 4.4sec lead. But the McLaren apparently felt less happy with the super soft tires than the Ferrari did, and Kimi needed just five laps to lower his gap to Hamilton to less than a second.

As is typical in aerodynamics-centered modern F1, however – especially in a tight track like the Hungaroring – Raikkonen was unable to turn his pace edge into anything resembling a proper attack thanks to the turbulence faced when trying to follow Hamilton from up close. For the same reasons, Alonso never could try and move past Heidfeld in the final laps.

And thus it ended in another Hamilton victory, with Raikkonen and Heidfeld completing the podium. Alonso had to settle for fourth, ahead of Kubica and Ralf, with three-stopper Rosberg and Renault's Heikki Kovalainen taking the final points positions. Massa, who appropriately deemed the Hungarian Sunday the "worst race" of his life, finished a distant 13th.

Hamilton now counts 80 points versus 73 for Alonso, as the championship virtually turns into a two-horse race between the silver teammates. Raikkonen regained the third spot from Massa with 60, and the Brazilian remains stuck at 58.

Formula 1 now goes into a three-week "summer break", returning with the Turkish GP on August 26.

Hungarian Grand Prix results

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