The comeback kid

Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix, defying expectations. It's his first podium finish since last year's Chinese Grand Prix.

"It's an incredible feeling to be back here after such a long time away, and the frustrations I and the team have had. We didn't expect to win," said Lewis.

Meanwhile, title contenders Red Bull Racing and Brawn GP suffered mixed fortunes. At the start, pole sitter Fernando Alonso led away from the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Kimi Raikkonen came storming through like a wild man, his Ferrari nearly hitting Hamilton. As the field bunched into the 180 degree first corner, he cut across the slow-starting Vettel for fourth place, hitting the Red Bull's front wing. Vettel's race would end in retirement.

At the time of going to press, the FIA are investigating the incident. "I didn't even realize I cut somebody," said Kimi, shortly after the race. "I didn't feel any touching. This is the first I've heard of it." Should he be found to have driven dangerously, it's possible he'll incur a 25 second penalty, demoting him from second to sixth.

Webber was chased by Hamilton, the McLaren making good use of its KERS system. On Lap 4 Lewis hit his boost button and overtook the German Grand Prix winner down the straight.

"We thought we'd be faster, but we knew these guys would be around us. This was quite a difficult track for us and we didn't have the advantage we had at the last couple of races," said Webber.

Alonso's lead ended after his first pitstop, when a wheelnut failed and his right-front wheel fell off during his out-lap. It was an exact replay of what happened to him here in Hungary in 2006.

The Hungaroring was, Brawn hoped, going to suit their car well. However, their cars were disastrously slow. Rubens Barrichello finished tenth, championship leader Jenson Button seventh. A few laps after his first stop, he was straight on the radio to his engineers. "Guys, I'm already getting oversteer. How, how can this car be so bad at the moment?" he shouted, desperately. "After four laps my rear tyres were destroyed," he explained after the race. "I don't know why. I don't think we can blame the weather. We've got to be looking in other areas. Our car is not driving as well as it did at the start of the season. There's obviously an issue."

It was lucky for him that Red Bull didn't dominate. He is now 18.5 points ahead of Mark Webber, who has overtaken his team mate in the title race.

After his win, comeback kid Lewis joined his Pussycat Doll girlfriend in McLaren's motorhome to toast his return to the top. "We're going to keep pushing," he said. "We've got some more work to do, so we can keep beating these guys on a regular basis. Clearly we've already made some serious improvements."

Jenson Button will be hoping for urgent improvements too, specifically to how the Brawn uses its tyres, if he's going to defend his championship lead.

RACE RESULTS

1. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
2. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
4. Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes
6. Timo Glock - Toyota
7. Jenson Button - Brawn-Mercedes
8. Jarno Trulli - Toyota
9. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota
10. Rubens Barrichello - Brawn-Mercedes
11. Nick Heidfeld - BMW-Sauber
12. Nelson Piquet - Renault
13. Robert Kubica - BMW-Sauber
14. Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Mercedes
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso-Ferrari

DNF      Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault

DNF            Fernando Alonso - Renault

DNF      Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Button - 70
2. Webber - 51.5
3. Vettel - 47
4. Barrichello - 44
5. Rosberg - 25.5
6. Trulli - 22.5
7. Massa - 22
8. Hamilton - 19
9. Raikkonen - 18
10. Glock - 16
11. Alonso - 13
12. Kovalainen - 9
13. Heidfeld - 6
14. Buemi - 3
15. Kubica - 2
16. Bourdais - 2

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Brawn GP - 114
2. Red Bull Racing - 98.5
3. Ferrari - 40
4. Toyota - 38.5
5. McLaren - 28
6. Williams - 25.5
7. Renault - 13
8. BMW Sauber - 8
9. Toro Rosso - 5