Schuey in lead in Hungary

Michael Schumacher made a clean getaway to lead the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position today.

Schumacher was quick off the line, and his cause was helpedby Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello who held off the fast-starting Fernando Alonso to claim second.

Jenson Button slipped a place off the start, having begun from the dirty side of the grid, while BAR team-mate Takuma Sato dropped from third to eighth on lap one.

McLaren’s David Coulthard made up one place to end lap one in 11th.

Ricardo Zonta's Toyota debut started badly when he was shunted into Mark Webber's Jaguar, dropping him to the back.

Schumacher edged clear at the front, setting an early fastest lap as he built a cushion on Barrichello who in turn was leaving Alonso’s Renault behind.

Button was unable to trouble the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya for fourth in the early stages and was coming under pressure from Renault’s Jarno Trulli, who was sixth despite starting ninth.

After 10 laps Schumacher had reeled off several fastest laps to earn a comfortable advantage over Barrichello.

Alonso made an early pit stop on lap 10 as Renault looked to get past Barrichello via strategy, with overtaking particularly difficult at the Hungaroring.

Ferrari responded and Barrichello came in a lap later – followed by Montoya, Button and Trulli – while Schumacher waited until lap 12 to make his routine visit to the pits.

The running order did not change, however, with Schumacher able to return to the track comfortably clear of Barrichello.

Kimi Raikkonen, Schumacher’s main threat over the last two races, pulled into the pits to retire his McLaren after 14 laps suffering a mechanical problem.

Schumacher breezed into a 4.2-second lead after 20 laps as his team rushed to fix an apparent problem with a refuelling rig. Alonso had slipped back and languished 20.1secs off Schumacher’s pace.