Massa triumphed by 5.5sec for Ferrari from Renault's Alonso who had to fight off seven-times champion Schumacher several times over the last 15 laps to take a vital second place by just a car's length.


The Spaniard came home just fractions ahead of his Ferrari rival to increase his championship lead over the German to 12 points with four races left. Massa, who had started on pole for the first time, claimed his historic win in his 66th race and his first season with Ferrari.

"It's just fantastic. I've worked so hard my whole career for this moment," said a tearful Massa. "I'm full of emotion, like yesterday (when he took pole). This is my first time, it's like a dream come true."

Alonso admitted:

"Felipe was impossible to catch. We'll just need to do something for the next race."

Schumacher, meanwhile, paid tribute to his young team mate:

"Congratulations to Felipe - he did a superb job. There was quite a gap and he was consistent and drove superbly.

"That's what is good about our team - somebody might not have had a good weekend and the other makes up for it. It was a nice fight towards the end."

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Reigning champion Fernando Alonso will take a 10-point lead over Schumacher into the next round of the season - the Turkish Grand Prix on August 27th.


Alonso is eagerly awaiting his second trip to the Istanbul Circuit, where he will hope to consolidate his championship lead.

"Yes, it feels more like Spa or a very old circuit, so it is something more than normal corners. It is very wide, so good opportunities to overtake, but apart from this, I think there are some corners that you cannot see the exits from, some corners that are really difficult. This turn eight, really a long corner, left corner. But with the V8 (engine) this year will be probably flat (out/full speed) and with four or four and a half g-force. So, it's something special this race."

said Fernando Alonso, F1 world champion.


Alonso won six of the first nine rounds of the season and finished second in the other three races.


A haul of just 16 points have followed in the last four races though and the 25-year-old has welcomed a chance to recharge his batteries in the three-week break that follows the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"All the breaks and stops are welcome, not only for the race drivers, but in general. I believe that the three weeks we have before Turkey is great for the mechanics, the engineers and the drivers. We can have a bit of a rest and think about what to do in the second half of this championship."

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Kimi Raikkonen is a bold driver and a worthy successor to his compatriot, fellow Finn, Mika Häkkinen.

Kimi Räikkönen surprised the world of F1 when Peter Sauber announced that he had offered Kimi a seat for 2001 on the condition that obtained his superlicense.


In his first year Raikkonen helped Sauber achieve fourth place constructors championship, the best in their history. This success eaned him a drive at McLaren.
In 2002 he maintained his blistering pace, on several occasions beating his teammate. His first F1 victory came in 2003, a year in which he fought for the title until the very last race of the season. Many thought that the 2004 title was his to lose, but as it transpired, the new MP4-19 was not up to the challenge. Räikkönen had to be satisfied with seventh place, with just a single victory, in Spa. 2005 began badly for McLaren and Kimi, but they recovered, gaining 7 important victories, enabling the team to compete with Fernando Alonso right down to the wire, but in the end he was runner-up.



So far this season has only been a reasonable one by Kimi's exacting standards, he currently (after the Hungarian Grand Prix) lies equal fourth with 49 points, 51 points behind the leader, Alonso.

Related Articles: Schumacher suffers same penalty as Alonso in Hungarian Grand Prix | Jenson Button wins the Hungarian Grand Prix - Videos | F1 Profile: Jenson Button

Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso will continue their duel from the middle of the starting grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix today after both drivers were hit with time penalties.


Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes, last year's winner, took the pole position yesterday in 1 minute, 19.599 seconds on the course. However, the focus was on Schumacher and Alonso after both incurred two-second penalties per qualifying session.


It was the tenth career pole position for Finland's Raikkonen and his second straight.


Schumacher was 12th and Alonso 15th in the qualifications, but Schumacher will move up to 11th when Jenson Button moves down from fourth to 14th because of an engine change, which indirectly caused Schumacher's penalty.


When Button's car caught fire, the session was stopped and Schumacher was judged to have passed two cars - including Alonso - despite red flags being waved. Afterward, Schumacher was penalised two seconds by the stewards.

"Of course I am angry... but I blame myself too," Schumacher said, adding video footage would show what happened.
"It is a bit difficult to explain what happened out there," Schumacher added later. "It's easier if everybody looks at the pictures. There you see more and the pictures are self-explanatory."

He did not elaborate.

"There are rules. If you don't respect them, you get a penalty,"

Raikkonen said.


Alonso still leads Schumacher in the season's standings 100-89, and it could get closer after today's race on the tight, twisting Hungaroring circuit where passing is difficult.

"The race here is as hard as Monaco, You usually can't overtake here,"

Schumacher said.


Schumacher started from last at Monaco after another qualifying penalty and finished fifth. He had been judged to intentionally stop his car at the last curve to slow the drivers - including Alonso - behind him in the final minute.


Schumacher goes into the race on the back of a convincing home victory in the German Grand Prix, where Alonso struggled with tire blistering problems and came in a distant fifth.


Today's race is 70 laps of the 4.381-kilometer (2.722-mile) circuit.


Source: The Scotsman