Heikki Kovalainen became the 100th winner in Formula One history with the first victory of his career to cap a surprising Hungarian Grand Prix.

The triumph was totally unexpected as Felipe Massa was on course to comfortably take the chequered flag, only for the engine in his Ferrari to blow just three laps from the finish.

The bitter blow for Massa means Lewis Hamilton now has a five-point lead in the title race from reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen as the young Briton could only finish fifth due to another tyre problem.

Hamilton was forced to pit and fell from second to 11th place after suffering a puncture on lap 41. "It's the best of the worst. What can you do when you have a puncture?" Hamilton said. "It just went in turn one. I never knew it was a puncture.

"It's nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I could have had Felipe and Kimi right at the front."

Hamilton started on pole but overtaken by Massa off the line, and he admitted he was surprised at his team's lack of overall superiority over Ferrari. "I was a little disappointed with the fact I had been passed, but he (Massa) just did a better job and it was better to play safe than sorry," he added. "It was a surprise that we weren't as quick as we should have been. We were quick at the beginning but struggled with our tyres."

When Kovalainen crossed the line, team boss Ron Dennis told him over the radio: "Welcome to the world of winning. The first of many. Well done."

In hindsight it should have been a straightforward afternoon for Hamilton as he came into the race enjoying undoubted domination of his sport.

Successive wins in Britain and Germany had propelled him into a four-point lead - and he appeared on course to become the first British driver since Damon Hill in 1996 to make it a hat-trick.

In practice, Hamilton had blitzed the field, and then in qualifying he was head and shoulders above the rest.

Starting from the 10th pole position of his career, and with Kovalainen alongside him on the front row, the McLaren duo should have repeated such a one-two in the race.

Even one of the Bridgestone chiefs had mentioned Hamilton was far more balanced on his tyres these days than Ferrari, and that was part of the reason as to his recent success.