Title all to play for - Hamilton

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer Lewis Hamilton says his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix proves that he can still win the world title.

The McLaren driver is still 47 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth, but Hamilton says it shows he has the pace to close the gap.

"Game on - it's a long way to go. This shows it's all to play for," he said.

"Not enough points taken from Fernando, as he still got 10 points, but if we can continue this performance."

Hungary was the 11th race of the season and there are still nine remaining, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on 2 September, following Formula 1's summer break.

Hamilton took his victory, which came from pole position, following race-long pressure from the two Lotus cars of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean and he said their pace proved McLaren still had to improve their car.

"We need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I'm sure, we will do," he said.

"Lotus are going to win at some stage. That car looks absolutely fantastic to drive; they are doing a great job.

"It's not unexpected - they've won world championships in the past, they are a fantastic team. And they're picking their pace up.

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

"They're that quick and yet they don't have the rear end [exhaust-influenced aerodynamics] Ferrari, Red Bull and us have. When they get that, the rest of us are going to be in trouble."

Despite Ferrari's lack of pace, Alonso actually extended his lead to 40 points over his closest rival in the championship, Red Bull's Mark Webber, who could only finish eighth.

And the Spaniard lost only two points to the man in third place, Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who finished one place ahead of the Ferrari in fourth.

Alonso said: "It was more or less what we could do and even better because, to be honest, finishing in front of Webber and one place behind Vettel is very good for us in terms of the championship.

"We were not competitive and we struggled a bit in the race, but thanks to the strategy and the consistency of the car we were able to finish in a good position."

Webber said: "Look, we've just got to stop the friendly fire. Yesterday was my fault in qually, but we have had some instances where we need to just keep doing better.

"That's how this team operates and I'm looking forward to the back part of the championship."

Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button said he felt the team's strategy had not worked for him - he complained that they brought him in for his second and third pit stops too early.

11 - McLaren 7 - Williams 5 - Ferrari He said: "We decided to go to for a three-stop [strategy], but every time I pitted, even though the tyres were good, I pitted into traffic.

"I don't know why we pitted when we did. I said to the guys: 'Is this traffic quicker than the guys I'm racing?' And they said: 'No.' And I said: 'So why have we pitted into this traffic?

"I don't know, there must have been be a misunderstanding where I would come out of the pits. Hopefully we'll learn from this, because it happened twice.

"I'm not happy with the strategy, but happy where we've taken the car."

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Title race wide open says Alonso

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer at Hockenheim Ferrari's Fernando Alonso believes his growing world championship lead "means nothing" and that the title race is still wide open.

The Spaniard won in Germany to move 34 points clear of Red Bull's Mark Webber at the season's halfway point.

"We are very happy with the positions we got in the first half of the season but it means nothing because there are still 10 races to go," Alonso said.

"We saw again today that we are still not the quickest [car]."

Alonso fought a race-long fight with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Jenson Button in Hockenheim.

Vettel crossed the line second, with Button third, but the German was demoted to fifth place for passing the Englishman by going off the track on the penultimate lap.

Alonso not resting on laurels

Alonso's lead was less than a second for most of the race, in which he drove astutely to ensure his rivals were never quite close enough to try to pass.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said: "It's true [we don't have the fastest car]. If we did, it would be easier to win.

"We need to improve the car. We need to make sure our car is good in all the different conditions - wet, dry, different kind of tyres and so on. It is such a tight championship you need to make sure you can develop the car race by race."

Alonso is 44 points ahead of Vettel, with Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen fourth, 56 behind.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: "Fernando has finished all the races in the points - he has a 34-point lead, but that isn't insurmountable with 25 points for a win.

"It's important we get both of our guys beating him. He's been driving incredibly well, he's hit a purple patch of form. But we'll be looking to put as much pressure on as we can in the second half of the year.

"The [Ferrari] car has come on in leaps and bounds, but there is an awful lot of racing to be done between now and the chequered flag in Brazil [at the final race of the season]."

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has slipped to fifth in the championship, 62 points behind Alonso, after retiring from the German Grand Prix with a gearbox problem caused by an early puncture.

Button is seventh, 86 points behind, but Horner said even he could not be ruled out.

1) Fernando Alonso - 154

2) Mark Webber - 120

3) Sebastian Vettel - 110

4) Kimi Raikkonen - 98

5) Lewis Hamilton - 92

6) Nico Rosberg - 76

7) Jenson Button - 68

8) Romain Grosjean - 61

"I don't think you can write off anybody in this championship," Horner said.

"People were saying Jenson's had a bad run; he drove a great race today.

"I think it would be unwise to write off any of the top six guys at the moment.

"It only takes a couple of DNFs for Fernando or any of the front guys and the picture can change quickly if you hit a bit of form."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "We're at the halfway point and we have a lot of racing ahead of us, and they can both do it.

"This season is going to be right to the very end. I believe we will be sat on the edge of our seats in the last few laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix and I hope I am in deep agony on those laps because it means we are in contention to win.

"Fernando is doing a great job and so are Ferrari. They are difficult to beat but it's doable. We are a motor racing team, we are fighters and we have to concentrate on, race by race, trying to maximise points and see if we can erode that situation.

"It's going to be a great, great season. It already has been a great season.

"Coming out of [the first race in] Melbourne you'd have said we were on a roll and they [Ferrari] were in trouble.

"You've got congratulate them. We're on the pace now, we just have to keep pushing, keep the faith, keep focused, don't make mistakes and I think both our drivers are capable of winning races and they are both still capable of winning the world championship."

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