4 Aug 2008

Kovalainen grabs maiden victory in Hungary

11:53 am on 4 August 2008

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen has celebrated a shock maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Ferrari's Felipe Massa suffered engine failure while leading with three laps remaining.

The Finn capitalised on the Brazilian's misfortune to finish ahead of podium Toyota debutant Timo Glock of Germany with Massa's team mate Kimi Raikkonen third.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton stayed top of the championship standings despite a puncture just after the midway stage that saw him finish fifth behind Renault driver and former team mate Fernando Alonso of Spain.

Hamilton leads Raikkonen by five points with Massa dropping into third, a further three points back.

Renault's Brazilian Nelson Piquet defended sixth with Italian Jarno Trulli climbing from ninth to seventh to complete a great weekend for Toyota.

There was disappointment, though, for BMW Sauber whose leading driver Robert Kubica of Poland just scraped into the points after dropping from fourth on the grid to finish eighth.