Hamilton warns Lotus are blooming

FERNANDO Alonso was as much a winner as Lewis Hamilton, while Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean signalled they could also be entering the Formula One championship fray as the season takes a summer break.

Hamilton showed the McLarens are back with Sunday’s victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix but he was pressured throughout by Lotus’s Grosjean and his team-mate, Raikkonen, leading the Briton to warn that Lotus now appeared to be a serious threat.

Ferrari driver Alonso, meanwhile, could only manage fifth, following his victory the previous week at the German Grand Prix, but the Spaniard was able to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship over Red Bull’s Mark Webber by 10 points.

And despite Ferrari’s lack of pace on the Hungaroring, Alonso only lost two points to the driver in third place, Webber’s team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, who finished one place ahead in fourth.

“It was more or less what we could do and even better because, to be honest, finishing in front of Webber and one place behind Vettel is good for us in terms of the championship,” Alonso said.

Hamilton, meanwhile, led from pole to record his second win of the season and move back to fourth in the standings as the season takes a break until the Belgian Grand Prix on September 2.

Alonso has 164 points, followed by Webber (124), Vettel (122), Hamilton (117) and Raikkonen (116). Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes is next up on 77, followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button and Grosjean on 76 each.

Hamilton was delighted with a victory for Britain on the first weekend of the London Olympics. “I feel like we’ve done our part to contribute to what I hope will be many more British successes over the Olympic period,” he said.

“Someone has just told me that we’ve scored Britain’s first gold medal of 2012. Well, it isn’t really that, is it? But it’s the first British victory of the Olympic Games period, which is pretty cool.”

Hamilton has benefited from upgrades to the McLaren, but it was a more trying afternoon for Button, who was stuck in traffic after the team opted for a threestop strategy, and finished sixth.

“We need to improve the car still in many areas, and that, I’m sure, we will do,” said Hamilton, who also warned of the danger posed by Lotus.

“Lotus are going to win at some stage. That car looks absolutely fantastic to drive. They are doing a great job,” he said.

“It’s not unexpected — they’ve won world championships in the past, they are a fantastic team. And they’re picking their pace up,” he said.

Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, has now finished second for the third time this season as he looks for his first win of the year. “We improved our position, our situation in the championship for myself and for the team,” the Finn said after finishing ahead of Grosjean.

“Maybe we are one place behind right now but we are closer to the front. As long as we keep doing that and hopefully the wins will come, then we will give myself and the team a good chance.”

Double world champion Vettel, who has only one win so far this season, was off the podium again, while Webber was eighth, but Red Bull still head the constructors’ championship.

Vettel had finished second in Germany, only to be demoted to fifth, and the German put a brave face on his fourth place at the Hungaroring. “I think our overall speed was better than the actual result we got,” he said.

“I was stuck behind Jenson Button in the first stint. He was slower and we lost some time there, but of course you can’t just pit and come out in clean air, there’s traffic, so there’s not much we could have done.

“The race pace was very good, so now it’s up to us to do better in qualifying and at the start. Then it’s a different race.”

Team principal Christian Horner also remained optimistic, with the team second and third in the drivers’ championship with nine races to go “and an awful lot of racing to do”. Sapa-DPA