With Sebastian Bourdais been given a five grid place penalty for hindering Nick Heidfeld in qualifying AT&T Williams drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima would start the seventy lap Hungarian Grand Prix from fourteenth and sixteenth positions. It had been found that the harder of the two tyres available was the preferred option so it was expected that most drivers would start of this tyre. With the grid cleared the field would move away on their formation lap with Hamilton leading. Coulthard was to start the race on the softer tyre.

With the start of the race it would be Massa who would grab the lead passing Hamilton around the outside at Turn one. Kovalainen was third followed by Glock, and Kubica. Alonso was in sixth followed by Raikkonen. By lap four Massa was still leading from Hamilton and Kovalainen. The next alp would see Massa set a fastest lap as he drew away from the following McLaren's. As for the Williams drivers they were down in seventeenth and eighteenth. By lap eight Massa's lead was out to two seconds, but there was the unknown factor as to what fuel the drivers were running with. By lap fourteen Massa's lead was out to three seconds. Lap fifteen and Massa would set a further fastest lap with a 1m:21,414. Glock was still in fourth followed by Kubica, Alonso, Raikkonen, and Webber in eighth.

At the front Massa and Hamilton were trading fastest sector times as they circulated around the track. Massa again was fastest on lap sixteen with a 1m:21.355. His lead was out to 3.2 seconds. Kubica in fifth was struggling to keep up with the first four. There was not a lot for the Williams team and fans to cheer about with their times only just faster than the Force India cars.

Lap nineteen and Massa would pit from the lead. Kubica and Webber would also come in. They would all stay on the harder tyre for their second stint. The next lap would see Hamilton pit from the lead. He would also stay on the harder tyre. Massa was now fourth ahead of Alonso. Hamilton would come out behind Raikkonen. He had taken on slightly more fuel than Massa. Lap twenty one and Glock would pit from second. Kovalainen was now leading with Nico and Kazuki still in seventeenth and eighteenth. Kovalainen would pit the next lap staying on the harder tyre. Glock would return in seventh behind Piquet. Massa was now leading from Alonso.

Alonso would pit on lap twenty three. He was followed closely by Raikkonen. They would both stay on the harder tyre. Going into Turn one Kimi nearly ran into the back of the Renault. Trulli would pit from fourth. Nico and Kazuki were in sixteenth and seventeenth. Vettel would pit to retire. Trulli was down in ninth. So the order was Massa followed by Hamilton, Piquet, Kovalainen, Glock, Coulthard, Alonso, and Raikkonen. Piquet would pit in lap twenty six. Coulthard was still running on the softer tyres and had yet to pit. At the end of lap twenty seven Massa's lead was three seconds over Hamilton. Twelfth through to nineteenth had yet to pit, pointing to the fact that would one stop in the race. This included both Williams drivers.

Coulthard would pit from fifth on lap thirty. Fisichella would pit from eighteenth. Coulthard would come back out in thirteenth. Nico would pit on lap thirty two. The next lap Button would pit from twelfth. He was joined by Bourdais. Massa's lead was now 4.0 seconds. Kovalainen was 11.9 seconds behind his team-mate. Barrichello and Kazuki would pit from thirteenth and fourteenth. Bourdais had come out of the pit lane with fire extinguisher foam all over his car. He had a flash fire from the fuel nozzle. Barrichello would have a problem with his refuelling rig that would see him delayed in his exit from the pits.

Both Barrichello and Kazuki had also had flashes of flames when there cars were refuelled. Lap thirty seven and Massa was leading by 3.7 seconds from Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Alonso, Raikkonen, Piquet, and Trulli. Kazuki was in fourteenth and Nico sixteenth. Both of the Williams drivers were one lap down. Heidfeld in eleventh was the only driver yet to stop. Hamilton would lose a second to Massa as both lap thirty nine Massa's lead was out to 4.7 seconds. Nico was told to try and pull out of the slip stream of the car in front to help cool the car. Both Williams cars were 2.5 seconds a lap slower than the lead cars.

The race would go wrong for Hamilton was he would suffer a tyre problem that would see him run off the track and have to lip back to his pit. He would make it back and would take on the softer tyres. Heidfeld would pit on lap forty three, taking on the softer tyre. Hamilton was down in tenth. At the front Massa was leading Kovalainen by 23.6 seconds. Glock was third followed by Alonso, Raikkonen, Piquet, Trulli, and Kubica in eighth. Lap forty five and Massa would pit. Kazuki and Nico remained in fourteenth and sixteenth. Massa would return in second having taken on the softer tyre. Glock would pit on lap forty eight. He was joined by Webber. Kovalainen would pit from the lead the next lap. Kovalainen would come back out in fifth behind Raikkonen.

Massa was again leading with Alonso in second. Raikkonen was right behind Alonso with Kovalainen in fourth followed by Glock, Piquet, Trulli, and Kubica. Hamilton was down in ninth. Alonso would pit on lap fifty one. Kubica would also come in. Alonso would take on the softer tyre. Raikkonen would pit on lap fifty two. Nico would pass Kazuki with the pair been in fifteenth and sixteenth. Fisichella had been able to also pass Kazuki, with the pair making slight contact. This would delay Kazuki allowing Nico past. Button would pit from thirteenth on lap fifty four. Trulli would pit from fifth on lap fifty four. Ninth placed Coulthard would also pit. Massa's lead was out to a comfortable 14.4 seconds. Fourth placed Piquet would pit on lap fifty five.

As Piquet came out of the pits he would defend hard and as they went around Turn one would push Trulli wide. Fisichella would run wide spraying Nico with dirt from the side of the track. Lap fifty eight and the order was Massa followed by Kovalainen, Glock, Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Piquet, and Trulli in eighth. Nico was now in fourteenth and Kazuki fifteenth. Raikkonen was able to get past Alonso and move into fourth. He would set a new fastest lap on lap sixty one, 1m:21.195. Nico would pit dropping him behind Kazuki, with the pair in fourteenth and fifteenth. Raikkonen was closing in onto third placed Glock, being 1.4 seconds in arrears. With only a handful of laps remaining would he be able to pass the Toyota.

Hamilton was closing in onto fifth placed Alonso, looking to gain those extra points. Sutil would
retire in his pit. Lap sixty six and Glock's lead was now only 0.8 seconds. The next drama of the race would be when Massa would pull his car off the track with smoke coming from it. His race was over and Kovalainen was now leading from Glock and Raikkonen. Massa's car had stopped on the main straight. He would walk back along the pit wall looking dejected. So Kovalainen would complete his last lap and would go onto to his maiden Grand Prix victory. Glock was second followed by Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Piquet, Trulli, and the last point went to Kubica. Kazuki would lead Nico home with the pair in thirteenth and fourteenth.

For the AT&T Williams team it was a race that would see very few positives, if any, to be taken away from the race and the weekend. The team has a lot of work to do if they wish to have any further success in the 2008 season. But will the team admit to itself that the work required to turn the FW30 around is not justified and they will focus all their efforts on preparing for the 2009 season.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1h37:27.067
 2.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    11.061
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    16.856
 4.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    21.614
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    23.048
 6.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +    32.298
 7.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    36.449
 8.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    48.321
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    58.834
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:07.709
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:10.407
12.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +    2 laps
17.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    3 laps
18.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:21.195

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    63
Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    23