Alonso off in Hungary

Kimi Raikkonen led the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position as Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso braved treacherous conditions to slice through the field.

Both championship rivals were handed qualifying penalties for practice indiscretions but made light of their lowly starting spots.

Schumacher vaulted from 11th to fourth in just a lap while championship leader Alonso went from 15th to fifth.

Honda’s Rubens Barrichello jumped up to second while Pedro de la Rosa also made an excellent start to lie third. Robert Kubica’s race debut was hampered by an opening lap spi but he continued.

Mark Webber's fine qualifying effort counted for nought when he parked his Williams after just one lap.

Alonso was soon right on Schumacher’s tail in the fight for fourth and after three laps he pulled off a stunning move to pass around the outside.

Honda’s Jenson Button was another driver to make a lightning start and by lap four he was seventh, putting Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella under pressure.

Barrichello made an unusually early fuel stop on lap five to leave McLaren running one-two and bring Alonso into the top three.

Schumacher lost pace rapidly and Button battled past for fourth while on lap seven Christian Klien crashed out after losing control of his Red Bull.

Alonso began to put De la Rosa under real pressure and the pair soon trimmed Raikkonen's lead to seven seconds.

As more rain came down, Fisichella attacked Schumacher in the battle for fifth, twice touching the rear of the Ferrari.

On lap 16 Alonso was elevated to second when De la Rosa pitted. When the Spaniard resumed he had a grandstand view of Fisichella passing Schumacher, who lost part of his front wing.

Later that lap he pitted for repairs soon after Raikkonen’s stop, which lifted Alonso to an incredible lead.

Fisichella’s good work was undone when he slid backwards into the barriers on lap 18 while Kubica knocked off his front wing but resumed.

Nico Rosberg followed Fisichella's example and slid into the tyre walls, putting the Williams driver out on the spot.

At the front Alonso was galloping clear of Raikkonen, building enough of a gap to pit and still retain his lead.

Schumacher’s plight was made abundantly clear when Alonso flew by to lap him after only 24 of the 70 laps.

Alonso soon had Raikkonen out of the equation after the Finn slammed into the back of backmarker Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Scuderia Toro Rosso on lap 27.

His McLaren was comprehensively wrecked and the safety car brought out. Most of the front-runners pitted immediately and Button was installed in second place behind Alonso.

The safety car peeled off on lap 31 and Alonso was able to breeze clear, with three lapped cars separating him from Button.

Both Ferraris did not enjoy such a clean restart, with Massa tipping Ralf Schumacher into a spin at turn one and Michael Schumacher spinning all on his own. The brothers were able to resume though.

Button sliced four seconds out of Alonso’s lead on lap 34 alone but he had to make do with more modest progress despite a series of fastest laps on a rapidly-drying surface.

With the track now almost dry, Schumacher suddenly found his speed again and blitzed the fastest lap on his way to fifth place, passing David Coulthard and Nick Heidfeld in the process.

Button had moved to within a second of the lead at that point and began to harry the world champion before pitting on lap 46.

The other Honda of Barrichello was under pressure from a resurgent Schumacher, who also pitted that lap.

Alonso made his pit stop on lap 51 with a 15-second lead, to leave Button out in front and just 19 laps from a maiden win.

Alonso switched to slick tyres but found the going tough at first, snaking off line at the first turn. It was all over later that lap when he flew into the barriers thanks to a drive shaft failure.

Button now lead by half a minute from Nick Heidfeld and the impossible was rapidly looking likely, even after a late tyre change.