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After a really disappointing Qualifying, Kimi Räikkönen finally still made the jump onto the podium in today's race of the Hungarian Grand Prix. After he was held back by Fernando Alonso ovr a long time, he still profited by the problems of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton at the end.

Kimi actually had a quite good start, but he nevertheless lost a position and fell bad on the seventh place. In front of him his team mate Felipe Massa caught a very good start and improved from third into the lead of the race by passing Kovalainen and Hamilton. While Massa then set the pace of the race, Kimi was held back by Fernando Alonso. In lap 10 he already had a gap of almost 20 seconds on his team mate.

Kimi and Fernando Alonso then both absolved their first pit stop in lap 22 and the Finn furthermore remained behind the Spanish Renault driver. However, both could pass BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica by the pit stop. Kimi's gap on Felipe Massa, who furthermore led the race at this time, was already 30 seconds. The order of the top 6 driver after 30 of 70 laps was: Massa, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Alonso and Räikkönen.

Kimi then absolved his second pit stop in lap 51 and returned to the track on the sixth position still ahead of Fernando Alonso, who pitted one lap before. Therefore Kimi lay behind Jarno Trulli and Nelson Piquet jr. However, both of them had to absolve their second pit stop, what then happened in lap 54 and 55. Kimi was now on fourth position. He also profited by a puncture at the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, which reflected the British driver on the sixth place.

After his second pit stop Kimi was able to show the full potential of his Ferrari and startet to close the gap of 12 seconds on Timo Glock on the third place. In lap 60 Kimi then set in 1:21.267 minutes the fastest race lap and gradually shortened the gap in every lap by more than a second. Five laps before the end of the race Kimi was less then a second behind Glock. Kimi's team mate Felipe Massa then retired from the race in lap 60 after an engine failure and Heikki Kovalainen took over the lead of the race from the Brazilian. Kimi then also became slower to not endanger his third place any more. He finally finished the Hungarian Grand Prix on a very happy third place behind Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen, who could celebrate his maiden Formula One victory today.

"I am sorry for Felipe and for the team as it is horrible to lose a race in this way. It was tough for me because, when you spend a long time behind a slower car it becomes frustrating and boring. When I was finally able to push, the car was behaving very well, but by then it was too late. I came up behind Glock but in the end, I had to slow as I had a mechanical problem with the rear end and the team told me to be very careful to ensure I brought the car home. It's true that I'm the one who has won the most points out of the top three in the classification, which shows this championship is really unpredictable, with ups and downs for everyone. It was a disappointing weekend for me but, at least I managed to come away with a decent result. We must try and fix the problems we have in qualifying to start at the front, so as to exploit the potential of the car. If we can do that, then we can get back to fighting for the win."

Race results: