Hamilton: World title bid intact after Ferrari's failure to capitalise

13 April 2012

Lewis Hamilton was relieved to see his main title rivals fail to benefit from his fifth-place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Briton was forced to pit and fell from second to 11th place after suffering a puncture on lap 41.  

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Hamilton's closest rival in the drivers' championship, looked set to cruise to victory but suffered an engine blow-out three laps from the finish - allowing McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen to take the chequered flag with Timo Glock second and Kimi Raikkonen third.  

Ferrari's Felipe Massa nips in front of Lewis Hamilton to lead at the Hungaroring. Yet Hamilton was fortunate to see his title rival suffer an engine blow-out three laps from the finish

Hamilton: Title hopes still intact

'It's the best of the worst. What can you do when you have a puncture?' Hamilton said.

'It just went in turn one. I never knew it was a puncture.  

'It's nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I could have had Felipe and Kimi right at the front.'

Hamilton started on pole but overtaken by Massa off the line, and he admitted he was surprised at his team's lack of overall superiority over Ferrari.  

'I was a little disappointed with the fact I had been passed, but he (Massa) just did a better job and it was better to play safe than sorry,' he added.  

'It was a surprise that we weren't as quick as we should have been. We were quick at the beginning but struggled with our tyres.'

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