Formula One: Raikkonen Pounces on Alonso's Mishap

Kimi Raikkonen rekindled his challenge for the world championship with a commanding victory in the Hungarian grand prix that saw him slice 10 points off Fernando Alonso's lead.

"It definitely looks better again. We can definitely still fight for the championship and that is what we are going to do," said the Finn.

Raikkonen, who ran a three-stop refuelling strategy in torrid conditions, drove a consummate tactical race, maintaining the pressure on Michael Schumacher's resurgent Ferrari F2005.

The world champion had qualified superbly on pole thanks to a new Bridgestone tyre compound that offered a consistency of performance the Italian team had been lacking for much of the season.

On this tight little track where overtaking is virtually impossible unless the driver in front makes a mistake, Raikkonen bided his time brilliantly after a very short opening stint before his first refuelling stop on lap 11.

Juan Pablo Montoya in the other McLaren, running on a two-stop strategy, took the lead after Raikkonen and Schumacher made their first refuelling stops but, when the Colombian came in at the end of lap 22, the Ferrari and the Finn surged back into first and second places barely a couple of lengths apart.

Alonso's Renault lost its nose section against the rear wheel of Ralf Schumacher's Toyota as the pack scrambled into the first corner. He had to pit immediately and eventually finished 11th.

"I think I was unlucky," said Alonso. "I was very surprised how many movements Ralf was making into the first corner. He did not give me any room at all and hit the front wing. I was right up on the kerb, nearly in the grass."

Montoya in the McLaren-Mercedes had headed the Michelin brigade in qualifying with the second-fastest time, ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota and Raikkonen in the other McLaren. It was another fine effort by the Finn, who was first out for his qualifying run on a dusty track surface due to his retirement at Hockenheim a week earlier.

Montoya, who retook the lead on lap 37, looked as likely at one point to win on his two-stop strategy as Raikkonen did on his three stops but he was forced to retire with drive-shaft failure after 41 laps while leading by nine seconds, which left Raikkonen and Schumacher battling for victory.

Raikkonen was clearly capable of running almost a second a lap quicker than the world champion but Schumacher is seldom a man to crack under pressure and the McLaren team had to start thinking on their feet in order to evolve a strategy that would leapfrog their driver ahead of the Ferrari.

The turning point came at the second round of stops, when Raikkonen stayed out a lap longer and managed to squeeze ahead into the first corner as he accelerated out of the pits. Thereafter he controlled proceedings through to the chequered flag, with Schumacher left to conserve his Ferrari and its Bridgestones while just fending off his brother Ralf's Toyota in the closing stages.

Michael Schumacher was content with his performance but is not yet ready to read too much into Ferrari's apparent revival. "I was pretty happy with my pace in the opening stages," he said, "and there was not much between mine and Kimi's, especially when you think he was running slightly lighter [on fuel]. But the pace of my tyres got slower, even though they stayed consistent.

"After that it was the pit stops which really decided it. If I could have come in at the same time, or maybe later than Kimi, then given how hard it is to overtake here I might have been able to win. In the closing stages Ralf got closer but by then I was just looking after my tyres and I only went as quickly as I needed to to keep him behind me."

It was a good race for Toyota, with Jarno Trulli following the younger Schumacher home in fourth. Jenson Button's BAR-Honda held off a distant challenge from Nick Heidfeld's Williams to take fifth.

"We had a reasonably good race and secured a two-car points finish, which is great for the team," said Button, referring to Takuma Sato's eighth place.

"The car was running quite well and, considering the fact that our tyre choice did not work for us this race, I am pleased to finish fifth today."

Alonso was bitterly disappointed at the outcome of this outing on the track where he scored his maiden grand prix win two years ago. After changing his nose section, he concentrated on finishing the race as best he could, mindful of the need to secure a favourable place in the running order for the inaugural Turkish grand prix at Istanbul on August 21.

"When the wing came off it did quite a lot of damage to the car, so after that I knew I was just racing to get a good qualifying position in Turkey."

But there was no way back for Red Bull, who lost both their drivers on the first lap. Christian Klien was flipped on the first corner, after making contact with Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber. David Coulthard followed soon after when he ploughed into the damaged front wing shed by Alonso's Renault, destroying his suspension and pitching him into a high-speed spin.

"I was lucky not to have had a bigger accident really," the Scot said. "I do know now it was a Renault nose cone but I couldn't distinguish the shape of it or anything. I just saw the shape of something in the middle of the track and I was going too fast to be able to react."

Klien had even less idea what happened. "Someone hit me, a Williams or a Sauber, and it just rolled the car, but it came back on to all four wheels, so luckily nothing happened to me.

"Lasting just half a straight in this race was not my target this weekend but it happens like that sometimes."