McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led the Hungarian Grand Prix from start to finish yesterday to stretch his championship lead on unhappy teammate Fernando Alonso to seven points.

The 22-year-old British rookie put behind him a pole position controversy and spy saga gripping McLaren to take his third win and 10th podium finish in 11 races and underscore his credentials as title favorite.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished second, 0.7 behind, with Germany's Nick Heidfeld third for BMW Sauber.

Spain's double world champion Alonso, who was stripped of pole and demoted to sixth place on the starting grid for unnecessarily impeding Hamilton in the final seconds of Saturday's qualifying, finished fourth.

Hamilton said his teammate had not spoken to him since Saturday's controversy.

As punishment for that same incident, but subject to appeal, leaders McLaren were barred from scoring points towards the constructors' championship in the race. McLaren remained on 138 points, with Ferrari narrowing the gap on 119 with six races remaining.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, third in the Formula One championship before Sunday's race, failed to score after starting 14th and slipped to fourth place overall.

Hamilton has 80 points, Alonso 73, Raikkonen 60 and Massa 59 in a championship that remains very much a four-way battle with an appeal hearing into the spy controversy also hanging over McLaren's hopes.

Eventful weekend

"It's been an eventful weekend and quite emotional for all the team," said Hamilton, happy to be back on top after his sensational run of nine podiums in a row ended at the Nuerburgring two weeks ago with ninth place.

"With all the drama that has gone on over the weekend, it would have been easy to lose focus. It's been a bit of a downer for the team."

The McLaren rookie led all 70 laps of a race that, in contrast to all the excitement and controversy away from the track in the build-up, was uneventful and processional until the closing stages when Raikkonen closed right in on the Briton.

"I had a problem with my steering and it made it quite difficult to keep the pace," said Hamilton, who soaked his father Anthony in champagne from the podium.

"I was quite nervous that something was going to break but thank God it didn't.

"It was probably one of the hardest races I've had to do and even more satisfying that I had to push that bit extra to keep him (Raikkonen) behind me."

The Finn, pushing hard on a tight circuit that is a nightmare for overtaking, slotted into second place at the start and remained there throughout. He set the fastest lap of the race right at the end.

"It was a kind of boring race, just driving behind and waiting for something to happen," said the Finn. "Nothing really happened so we finished where we started.

"Our car is maybe not exactly suited for this circuit," said Raikkonen, a winner at the Hungaroring with Mercedes-powered McLaren in 2005.

Poland's Robert Kubica, marking his first anniversary in Formula One after making his debut here last year, was fifth for BMW Sauber with Toyota's Ralf Schumacher sixth.

Germany's Nico Rosberg was seventh for Williams with Renault's Finnish rookie Heikki Kovalainen taking the last point for the struggling champions.

(China Daily via Agencies August 6, 2007)