Race Report: Massa all but wins in Hungary

Dear readers.

I apologize for the lack of posting in the previous few days but I have been constantly on the go. I will also be the first to admit that I did not get a chance to see the whole race so this will be a shortened report so here goes

Poor old Felipe Massa. Here is a man who is supposed to be second best at Ferrari behind last years world champion, he is supposed to struggle to win from back on the grid, who is supposed to be inconsistent, and is not supposed to be a legitimate contender for the world championship. Massa qualified a so-so third (three places higher than Raikkonen) and with a McLaren dominated front row this was supposed to be another Lewis Hamilton victory. The Hungaroring is a track where passing is difficult but it still throws up the odd surprise and this time it was no different. At the start Massa had a dynamite getaway and was alongside Hamilton on teh outside going into turn one, It was man to man and Felipe held his outside line, braked late, and swooped around Hamilton on the outside to take the lead. From tehre it appeared to be all over. Hamilton could not keep up with Felipe and it looked to be Massa-Hamilton finishing 1-2 until Lewis had a puncture and pitted for a new tyre, he would finish fifth. Meanwhile Timo Glock was driving a storming race in his Toyota and inherited third behind Heikki Kovalainen who stayed out of trouble. Massa was cruising and was on for ten points to Hamilton's three and Raikkonen's five. This result would put Massa into first in the world championship with seven races remaining, everything was looking great for Felipe and Ferrari when with three laps to go everything went horribly, horribly wrong. On that lap there was some smoke coming from the back of the Ferrari and on the start finish race there was a mighty bang behind Felipe and he coasted to a stop and one could hear the cruel laughter of the racing gods. This cruel twist of fate gifted the race to Heikki Kovalainen, who duly won his first ever grand prix. It was a great result for Heikki who seemed to be in danger of losing his ride in recent weeks before it was announced that he would be retained for next year. Heikki responded in the best possible way and deserves a first win, although Massa will feel as though he really deserved this win, but hey, Heikki crossed the line first. Second was Timo Glock with his first career podium and his best career grand prix weekend. He qualified a brilliant fifth and drove a consistent race to inherit second after Massa expired. There were some eyebrows raised when Glock was hired by Toyota and he had a slow start to the season but has been getting better and better and deserves this good result. Toyota are now up to fourth in the championship with Glock's second place and Jarno Trulli getting points for seventh and with Red Bull failing to score yet again the men from cologne are cruising to fourth in the championship. If they do get fourth then their main competition appears to be Renault. The 2005 and 2006 constructors champions had a woeful start to the year but have rebounded impressively to collect some mega points yesterday with Fernando Alonso fourth and Nelson Piquet sixth. They have scored 19 points in the last three races compared to Red Bull's 0 and are now seven points ahead of RBR and looking good. If Toyota and Renault had great days then BMW Sauber had a dismal one. Robert Kubica started fourth but faded badly to eighth while Nick Heidfeld started fifteenth and finished tenth. BMW were contenders for the constructors championship four races ago but now find themselves in third and struggling while the likes of Toyita and Renault are getting much better. Their position of third is under no threat, but they are not in contention for the top two spots anymore, after a promising first half of the season they have faded badly indeed.

The next race is in three weeks in Valencia with Lewis Hamilton five points up on Kimi Raikkonen and eight ahead of Felipe Massa in the championship standings. This has been one of the most competitive F1 seasons in a long time and it is anyones guess who will do well in Valencia. It is a street circuit and it could create a surprise or two. Congrats to Heikki Kovalainen and McLaren for the win, but Ferrari will be rebounding in Valencia you can be sure.