By Parminio
August 19 2002

With an inspiring drive by Kimi, and solid strategy by McLaren, an embarrasing qualifying performance turns out to be an excellent race. The race started out well for both McLaren drivers with Kimi moving from 11th to 8th, and David from 10th to 7th. The first corner however found David hung out, and he had to slow up and fell back to his 10th possition. Kimi immediately set to work on Juan Pablo Montoya. The Ferrari's wasted no time pulling out a lead, and with very little overtaking possibilities, most settled in for the parade that is the Hungarian grand prix. Kimi however, had other plans. Following Juan Pablo so closely that at times it was hard to tell where the Williams BMW ended and the McLaren began, Kimi pushed hard from the outset. Finding no real opportunity, he remained close enough so that when Juan made a slight mistake over the curb, Kimi attacked. In almost a carbon copy of the action at Hockenheim, Kimi and Juan were side by side through several corners, neither giving an inch. Finally, the McLaren of Kimi proved a bit too much for Juan Pablo's Williams, as the BMW powered machine went wide on exit, and into the grass, damaging the car and sending Juan to an early pit stop. Both McLarens pushed hard all race. Kimi was able to pressure the Renault of Jenson Button into making a mistake as well, putting Jenson out of the race. Both of the pit stops for both McLaren drivers went off without a hitch, and with that both cars gained positions to finish 4th and 5th. The 5 points secured by McLaren was a shot in the arm for the weekend, which up to that point had been rather dismal. It didn't help so much with the quest to catch Williams BMW however, even with Juan Pablo finishing 11th after his off. The 1 point extra is not enough to close the gap, and with only 4 races left, time is running out.