Associated Press
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen won his first Formula One race Sunday after an engine problem forced Felipe Massa out of the Hungarian Grand Prix with three laps to go.
Massa overtook Kovalainen and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and was heading for his fourth win of the season after Hamilton dropped out of contention with a tire puncture. But the Brazilian's Ferrari engine overheated toward the end and Kovalainen took an 11-second victory over Timo Glock of Toyota.
"Of course I feel a little bit sorry for Felipe. I know how he feels with what happened to him today; I've had similar moments to him this year," said Kovalainen, who became the 100th driver to win a Formula One race.
Kovalainen -- greeted by chants of "Heikki" from the large Finnish contingent in the stands -- had narrowed Massa's lead to under six seconds before the Brazilian's engine blew up and ruined his chance of taking the lead in F1's standings for the second time this season.
Kovalainen takes first F1 race after Massa bows out....
Mercedes-Benz is interested in buying the remainder of McLaren, team chief executive Martin Whitmarsh has admitted at Hockenheim.
On the verge of the German manufacturer's home race, Whitmarsh confirmed the constant speculation about McLaren's long-time partner wanting to up its share from the current 40%.
McLaren teamed up with the Stuttgart manufacturer in 1995, and Mercedes-Benz is now the only carmaker on the grid that does not own its team outright.
"It's an interesting issue and a dilemma that faces the shareholders of this business - and to some extent the management," Whitmarsh told the International Herald Tribune newspaper.
Mercedes wants to buy McLaren....
(CNN) -- World championship leader Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal to claim pole position for Sunday's race.
But the McLaren man had to produce a dramatic last lap to pip Robert Kubica in the BMW who had surprisingly posted the quickest time moments before in Saturday's session.
Hamilton, who had been on pole prior to Kubica's late charge, certainly reserved his best for last with a stunning one minute 17.886 seconds to be over a half a second clear of the field.
"At the end I had two laps," Hamilton told the Associated Press.
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When Ferrari wrapped up the front row of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s only real hope of victory seemed to lie in the hands of the weather gods. It duly rained before the start, but after six laps the Englishman walloped the wall hard on the exit to the Swimming Pool, while trailing poleman Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Into the pits he came, and at that stage the race seemed to belong to the Brazilian.
McLaren, however, brimmed the MP4-23 with fuel, and Hamilton caught his first break when the safety car was deployed on the eighth lap after Red Bull’s David Coulthard and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais went off at Massenet.
The racing resumed on the 11th lap, and two laps later Kimi Raikkonen dropped out of second place when he had to serve a drive-through penalty for having his tyres fitted too late in the grid. Now BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica moved up to push Massa, and was able to snatch the lead when the latter slid momentarily up the escape road at Ste Devote on the 16th lap. Hamilton was chasing hard after them, with Raikkonen now trailing in fourth place.
Kubica stayed ahead until he refuelled on the 26th lap, whereupon Massa went back into the lead until his stop on the 33rd lap. By then Hamilton was up to second, and after moving into the lead… he just kept going.
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