=== Hamilton prevails in Hungarian GP win ===
 
 Budapest,  Hungary  (Sports Network)  -  McLaren's  Lewis  Hamilton put  on  a
 dominating  performance  but had to hold  off Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and
 Romain Grosjean to win Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
 
 Hamilton started on the pole and only relinquished the lead during his two pit
 stops in the 69-lap event at the Hungaroring course.
 
 After  the first  round  of stops,  Grosjean  moved to  within  one second  of
 Hamilton  but could not  catch him for the lead. Hamilton pitted for the final
 time with a very quick 2.8-second stop on lap 40. Raikkonen made his stop five
 laps  later but  rejoined the field alongside Grosjean, who was forced wide in
 turn one. That allowed Raikkonen to take over second.
 
 Raikkonen  challenged Hamilton  for  the top  spot in  the  closing laps,  but
 Hamilton  finished just  over one second ahead of Raikkonen for his second win
 of the season and the 19th of his Formula One career.
 
 McLaren  has won  six of  the last  eight Hungarian  GPs. Hamilton's  previous
 victories  in  this race came  in 2007, his rookie  F1 season, and '09. Jenson
 Button drove his McLaren car to victory here last year.
 
 Heading  into F1's month-long summer break, Hamilton moved to within 47 points
 of  Fernando Alonso  in the world championship point standings. F1 will be off
 during  the  month of August  before it resumes its  schedule with the Sept. 2
 Belgian Grand Prix.
 
 "It  was a  really enjoyable race, but  it wasn't at all easy," Hamilton said.
 "In fact, I reckon that it was one of the toughest races I've ever driven, but
 guess  what, I'll  savour it  all the  more for  that. I  was under  a lot  of
 pressure  throughout all 69 laps. Romain Grosjean and then Kimi Raikkonen were
 right  behind me all the way through, and I had to look after my tires without
 letting my pace drop, which was pretty tricky at times."
 
 Hamilton's first win of the season came in the June 10 Canadian Grand Prix.
 
 Raikkonen,  who returned to  F1 after spending the past two years in the World
 Rally  Championship,  finished in the  runner-up spot  for the third time this
 season.
 
 "It's  a shame  we couldn't quite get the  win, but it's a good result for the
 team, and we'll keep pushing to make that final step." he said. "The team said
 it  would be very close with Romain, but it was okay in the end. We managed to
 catch Lewis, but it was impossible to pass."
 
 Grosjean  finished 10.5 seconds behind Hamilton in third place. It's the third
 time this season he has made a podium appearance.
 
 "It's  a good result  for the team, but to be honest, I'm a bit disappointed,"
 Grosjean  said. "We had  a good battle for the lead with Lewis all through the
 first  two stints,  but then I got stuck behind Michael Schumacher, who didn't
 respect the blue flags at all, which cost me a lot of time. Because of this, I
 lost a place to Kimi, and at the same time, a possible chance to fight for the
 win."
 
 Sebastian  Vettel from  Red Bull  finished  fourth, while  his teammate,  Mark
 Webber,  took  the eighth  spot. Vettel  and Webber both  made three pit stops
 during the race.
 
 Alonso  now holds  a 40-point  lead  over Webber,  while Vettel  trails by  42
 points. Raikkonen is 48 behind.
 
 The  Hungarian GP was  scheduled for 70 laps but trimmed to 69 due to an extra
 formation lap. The start of the race was aborted when Schumacher's car stalled
 on  the grid and had to be pushed onto pit lane. Schumacher, the record seven-
 time  F1  champion, started the  event from pit lane  but retired with 11 laps
 remaining due to a mechanical issue. He is a four-time winner of the Hungarian
 GP.
 
 07/29 13:05:02 ET

Powered by The Sports Network.