It seems that every race this season is destined to produce surprises, even the Hungaroring. After Massa shot into the lead from third on the grid and then maintained his lead from Hamilton, it was clear that anything was possible. Hamilton's puncture and drop down to tenth was a minor sensation beside Massa's engine blow up three laps from the end. And Kovalainen gratefully accepting the win was the result of looking after his tires more than just luck. He earned it.
Heikki Kovalainen
The enigma has to be Raikkonen's awful form in mid-season. In-car camera shots showed Kimi's car to be much more of a handful than Massa's all weekend and it is possible to accept that the Finn has been struggling to find the best set-up for qualifying. But how does that square with his sudden speed in the last few laps of the race and yet another fastest lap? He mumbled in the post-race interview about mistakes in qualifying and being held up by Alonso in the race, the car coming good on soft tires but there being no way to get by Glock - and I don't believe a word of it.
The plain fact is that he was never close enough to Alonso or Glock to have a stab at passing them. Either he has lost motivation or the Ferrari's aerodynamics are so sensitive that the car cannot run behind another car. And, if the handling problems stem from an inability by Kimi to get the set-up right, I must assume that he is not taking a look at Massa's settings. Even Michael Schumacher was not above taking a team mate's settings on occasion (just ask Johnny Herbert); is it pride causing Kimi to self-destruct?
I do not know, but the net result is that the rumors of Kimi considering retirement at the end of the year look increasingly possible. The man is as unemotional as usual in interviews but his driving is not that of the Kimi we remember from his McLaren days.
And what are we to make of Massa, the class of the field today, until robbed by an exploding engine? Either the little Brazilian is a lot better than we gave him credit for or something very strange is going on. Oh, to have a spy in the Ferrari camp to find out what is really happening...
It all adds to Ferrari's problems, however. Instead of extending his lead over Raikkonen in the championship, Massa now falls behind, thereby delaying the moment when the team must choose who to back. Do they go for their star, even though he cannot maintain any form at all? Or go for the guy who is behind but getting better all the time? It's a difficult one.
McLaren's only problem at the moment must be Massa as well. They were supposed to bring home an easy one-two in Hungary but found themselves in a battle instead. It is no consolation to think that, but for Hamilton's puncture, they would have had their dream result - that annoying Brazilian was the fly in their ointment and they were saved by his engine failure alone. There can be no complacency about a McLaren walk-over in Valencia, thanks to Massa.
As for the rest, for the first time Glock showed that he can drive, Alonso fought hard for his fourth place and Piquet continued his improvement. Trulli was uncharacteristically quiet and the BMWs were obviously not on the pace at this circuit. In fact, this was an unusual GP in that most of the action was at the front, rather than in midfield. The Hungaroring may have delivered a reasonably exciting race this time but, as always, I am glad to get it over and done with.
Bring on Valencia!