VIDEO: Hamilton happy after Hungary win

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Hungary quotes & stats round-up

Lewis Hamilton expects Lotus to soon have the pace to win races, but Kimi Raikkonen says they need to improve in qualifying for that to happen.

Raikkonen finished second at the Hungarian Grand Prix, behind Hamilton, with his Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean third.

7 - Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher 5 - Damon Hill, Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard 4 - Nigel Mansell "It's a bit disappointing that we cannot [win]," said Raikkonen.

"We have not been so strong in qualifying and we keep making it very hard for ourselves on Sundays."

Lotus are still searching for a first victory in 2012, but Raikkonen has come close, finishing second on three occasions.

"We still keep putting ourselves in a good position to at least have a chance to win and get good results, good points for the team," added the 2007 world champion.

2012 - Lewis Hamilton 2011 - Sebastian Vettel 2010 - Sebastian Vettel 2009 - Fernando Alonso 2008 - Lewis Hamilton 2007 - Fernando Alonso "If it comes it's great, if not, we keep trying. I've been in the business long enough that I don't really worry about things too much. We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team."

For a while, it had looked like Raikkonen's team-mate Grosjean would be Hamilton's main challenger, but traffic on the circuit saw his fight for first place ultimately fade away.

"The worst moment for me was with Michael Schumacher who wouldn't let me pass and cost me one-and-a-half seconds," said the Frenchman. "But we have to take the positive.

"I am pleased with the way we came back from nowhere in Germany to on the podium before the [summer] break."

4 - Michael Schumacher 3 - Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton 2 - Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve Grosjean was being hunted down by Sebastian Vettel for much of the race. The German was determined to snatch a place on the podium, especially after missing out in Germany last week when he was demoted from second to fifth after being penalised for an illegal overtaking manoeuvre on Jenson Button.

"I think our overall speed was better than the actual result we got," said Vettel.

"I was stuck behind Jenson Button in the first stint; he was slower and we lost some time there, but of course you can't just pit and come out in clean air, there's traffic, so there's not much we could have done. The race pace was very good, so now it's up to us to do better in qualifying and at the start; then it's a different race."

Fernando Alonso saw in his 31st birthday by finishing fifth, a result that increases his lead over Mark Webber at the top of the championship to 40 points.

It was the 23rd consecutive race that the Spaniard has finished in the points, and he was more than happy with the result.

"It was a good race in terms of the points and 23 consecutive races in the points is impressive," said Alonso.

11 - McLaren 7 - Williams 5 - Ferrari "As was the case in qualifying and in Germany, the Red Bulls and McLarens are in front of us and we need to catch up. In Spa we need to be more competitive and quicker."

Webber had made a storming start to the race, quickly moving up from 11th to seventh before eventually crossing the line in eighth place.

"I am not doing much hunting at the moment," said the Australian.

"Fernando is still putting some good points together but let's see how the next few races go. We can talk about the championship when there are just a few races to go, but now we focus on the next race."

For Michael Schumacher , it was a race that he will want to quickly forget.

Track temperature: 45C Air temperature: 31C Ave wind speed: 2.3 metres per second Humidity: 39% Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (lap 68): 1 min 24.136 secs Fastest Speeds: Sector 1: Lewis Hamilton 278kph (172.74mph) Sector 2 : Fernando Alonso 235kph (146.02mph) Sector 3 : Bruno Senna 254kph (157.83mph) Speed Trap: N Hulkenberg 307kph (190.76mph) The seven-time world champion has won the Hungarian Grand Prix more than any other driver, with four wins, but this year's race was a hugely disappointing one for the German as he retired early following a series of problems.

First, Schumacher caused the start of the race to be aborted when he stopped in the wrong grid slot, before switching off his engine when the lights flashed amber after becoming concerned it was overheating. He was subsequently wheeled back to the garage and started from the pit-lane.

Then, he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits, before eventually retiring with a telemetry problem.

"The race this weekend was done before it was started," said Schumacher. "Luckily Nico [Rosberg, who finished 10th] was able to grab a point and that shows in certain races and certain conditions we are competitive, and that is something we have to work on.

"Developments have probably kicked in better for other teams than they have for us in recent weeks. There are certain circumstances that at the moment means we are not competitive yet."

Vettel

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VIDEO: Hungary podiums please Lotus drivers

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VIDEO: Hamilton delighted with Hungary pole

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Hamilton holds on for Hungary win

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took his second victory of the season as he beat Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton led throughout but had to fend off a determined challenge from both Raikkonen and the Finn's team-mate Romain Grosjean, who was third.

1. Lewis Hamilton 1:41:05.503

2. Kimi Raikkonen +00:01.032

3. Romain Grosjean +00:10.518

4. Sebastian Vettel +00:11.614

5. Fernando Alonso +00:26.653

6. Jenson Button +00:30.243

7. Bruno Senna +00:33.899

8. Mark Webber +00:34.458

9. Felipe Massa +00:38.350

10. Nico Rosberg +00:51.234

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was fourth ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Jenson Button.

Alonso extended his title lead over Red Bull's Mark Webber to 40 points.

The Australian was ahead of the Spaniard after their second stops, but Webber suffered a failed differential and made a third stop for fresher tyres with 13 laps to go, which dropped him back down to eighth place at the flag.

Webber is two points ahead of Vettel in the championship, with Hamilton a further five points adrift and one ahead of Raikkonen as F1 heads into its mid-season four-week break before the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September.

Jenson Button, slower and harder on his tyres than team-mate Hamilton, finished the race sixth, ahead of the Williams of Bruno Senna, Webber, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton's win came as a result of a controlled defensive drive, not dissimilar to Alonso's victory in Germany a week ago.

The McLaren driver led from pole position and measured his pace ahead of the faster Lotus cars.

The 2008 world champion said: "There is a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do, but we are going to give it everything."

4 - Michael Schumacher 3 - Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton 2 - Jenson Button, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve Grosjean was his main opposition for the first two-thirds of the race, as Raikkonen bided his time fighting up from sixth place on the first lap, after he dropped a place to Alonso at the start after a temporary problem with his Kers power-boost system.

But clever strategy by Lotus, founded on their car's excellent tyre usage, gave Raikkonen clear air in the middle of the race before his second and final stop and put in an impressive sequence of laps to make up enough ground to pass Button, Alonso, Vettel and Grosjean.

The two Lotus cars were side by side rounding the first corner when Raikkonen emerged from the pits but the Finn legitimately pushed the Frenchman to the outside of the track on the exit of the corner and consolidated second place, before setting off after Hamilton.

Hamilton happy after Hungary win

He quickly closed on to the McLaren's rear, and the question then became which driver's strategies would work out best - and would Hamilton's tyres last when he had made his final stop five laps before Raikkonen.

But the extra wear generated by following another car took the edge off Raikkonen's tyres, and he had to settle for second place as Hamilton took his first win since the Canadian Grand Prix in June and became only the third driver after Alonso and Webber to win more than one race this season.

Raikkonen said: "We came second, it's not enough. We had some problems with the Kers in the first lap which didn't help us, but we had good speed. We keep trying the next race to win, we keep saying that but at least we are up there all the time. I take the second place, but for sure we are not happy until we win."

Grosjean was left to fend off Vettel, a problem that removed itself when the German made a third stop for tyres late in the race with 10 laps of the 69 remaining.

Zsolt Baumgartner became the first Hungarian to drive in Formula 1 at the 2003 Hungary GP, where he retired in the 34th lap

Vettel used his fresher tyres to try to close a 15-second gap on the Lotus but ran out of time.

Button ran third in the early laps, but his heavier tyre wear forced him on to a three-stop strategy, one more than Hamilton's.

Button's race was further hindered by coming out from his second stop behind Senna, although the Briton managed to rejoin ahead of the Brazilian after his final stop having made up ground following Senna's second and final stop.

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Dominant Hamilton on Hungary pole

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was in a league of his own as he took pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Englishman set two laps fast enough for pole, an early benchmark that proved out of reach of his rivals and then an even faster lap to take pole by 0.413 seconds.

1. Lewis Hamilton 1:20.953

2. Romain Grosjean 1:21.366

3. Sebastian Vettel 1:21.416

4. Jenson Button 1:21.583

5. Kimi Raikkonen 1:21.730

6. Fernando Alonso 1:21.844

7. Felipe Massa 1:21.900

8. Pastor Maldonado 1:21.939

9. Bruno Senna 1:22.343

10. Nico Hulkenberg 1:22.847

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was second ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

Jenson Button was fourth, Kimi Raikkonen fifth, Fernando Alonso sixth and Mark Webber only 11th.

The top 10 was rounded out by Alonso's Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna, and Nico Hulkenberg's Force India.

Red Bull's Webber, second in the championship behind Ferrari driver Alonso, was knocked out in the second session.

The Australian could manage only 11th fastest time, despite being only 0.308 secs slower than Vettel, who was second fastest in that session behind Hamilton.

Hamilton said: "It is great to finally see the upgrades working and I have been able to put the car where I want to this weekend. We are not saying we are relaxed.

"We know we have a lot of work to do, starting this weekend."

It was a hugely impressive performance by Hamilton, who has looked the man to beat all weekend, and Grosjean lived up to the potential Lotus had appeared to have.

The Frenchman and his team-mate Raikkonen are expected to be a serious threat in the race, where their impressive tyre preservation ensures they are nearly always a factor.

2011 - Sebastian Vettel

2010 - Sebastian Vettel

2009 - Fernando Alonso

2008 - Lewis Hamilton

2007 - Fernando Alonso

Grosjean said of his second place: "It is good to be back at the front. We had a difficult race in Germany but I am glad we have been able to improve here and I think tomorrow is going to be interesting."

Alonso's performance, meanwhile, proved Ferrari's point that they do not have the fastest car in terms of outright pace in the dry, and that the Spaniard's 34-point championship lead has been caused largely by his impressive consistency.

Although Alonso has been on pole for the last two races, both those qualifying sessions were in the wet.

Red Bull's performance, on a track on which they have dominated for the last two seasons in terms of pure pace, will confirm in many minds that they have been knocked backwards by a rule change before this race restricting the manner in which they were altering engine settings for improved cornering performance and tyre wear.

But Red Bull's Vettel said: "It has been more a case of it being difficult getting everything to work properly. The speed is there but it has been a struggle to get the balance. I think with the progress we have made we should be in a good position tomorrow."

Hungarian GP: Lewis Hamilton delighted with pole

It was a terrible day for Mercedes, the challenging layout of endless corners at the Hungaroring exposing the weakness in their car that has been apparent for some time.

Nico Rosberg was only 13th fastest and Michael Schumacher was down in 17th, nearly a second slower than his team-mate after aborting his second flying lap because it was not going to be fast enough to get him into the top 10.

At Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne out-qualified team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for only the third time this season and the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

The Frenchman lines up 16th, with Ricciardo knocked out in the first session and 18th.

Saturday, 28 July: Third practice 09:55 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. Qualifying 12:55 BST; BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & highlights on BBC Two at 17:00 BST. Sunday, 29 July: Race 12:45 BST; BBC Sport website live text and audio commentary and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & Race highlights 19:00 BST BBC One/BBC HD/online.

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VIDEO: McLaren duo eye Hungary challenge

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Hamilton tops practice in Hungary

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer McLaren's Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Hungarian Grand Prix practice from Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen.

He headed both sessions. Team-mate Jenson Button was second in the first and eighth in the second, which was disrupted by a rain shower.

Hamilton ended the day 0.185 seconds quicker than Raikkonen, with Williams's Bruno Senna a surprise third.

The Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were fourth and fifth, and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel eighth.

"It's been a real positive day for me, I'm very happy," said Hamilton.

"We're on the right path but we've still got work to do and we know the Red Bull looks very quick, so does the Lotus and obviously the Ferrari as well.

"So we are by no means feeling comfortable. We're going to keep pushing."

Red Bull, who have dominated in the dry at the Hungaroring in the last two seasons, were surprisingly off the pace in the first session, although they looked more competitive in the second.

Vettel was 0.829 secs behind Hamilton in the second session, while team-mate Mark Webber was 14th fastest in the afternoon, although neither ran the faster 'soft' tyres before it rained.

Webber was 13th in the morning, when Vettel was 15th.

Speculation will centre on whether this apparent comparative lack of pace is related to a rule change focused on Red Bull and the engine settings they were running at the German Grand Prix last weekend.

The second session was interrupted by a rain shower about halfway through, but most of the leading runners managed to get out to do their lower-fuel runs on the 'soft' tyre before it hit.

"Some drivers did not get the best out of the 'soft' tyres, such as Button," said BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson. "Hamilton, Raikkonen and Senna all benefited from the cloud cover before the rain started.

"The Renault engine-setting situation will affect the mapping for the wet as well as the dry, but I'm sure Red Bull will be a factor [in the race]."

Force India's Paul di Resta was seventh fastest, with Lotus's Romain Grosjean ninth, ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

Schumacher went out on wet tyres after the rain but locked his brakes and crashed into the tyre barriers at the downhill Turn 12.

It was the second time in a week that the veteran German had crashed in a wet second practice session.

"I just locked up and run out of road," The Mercedes driver said. "By hitting the tyres, I lost the front wing, but other than that, nothing is damaged on the car, I believe.

"It was the kind of incident that happens when suddenly a shower hits the dry track. The car felt OK until then."

The rain meant that the teams did not have a chance to do their usual race-simulation runs on the softer tyre.

In the first session, there was another impressive performance from Williams reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, standing in for race driver Bruno Senna in this sesson as normal.

He finished the session ninth fastest, behind Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Bottas was 0.148 secs quicker than team-mate Pastor Maldonado - and 15 minutes before the end of the session he had been seventh quickest, nearly half a second ahead of the Venezuelan.

In the first session, Hamilton was 0.101 secs quicker than Button, with Alonso third and a further 0.475 secs behind.

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