Kovalainen earns first F1 win

Finn claims Hungarian GP when Massa's Ferrari overheats with 3 laps left

McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen won his first Formula One race Sunday after an engine problem forced Felipe Massa out of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest with three laps to go.

Massa overtook Kovalainen and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and was heading for his fourth win of the season after Hamilton dropped out of contention with a tire puncture. But the Brazilian's Ferrari engine overheated toward the end, and Kovalainen took an 11-second victory over Timo Glock of Toyota.

"Of course, I feel a little bit sorry for Felipe. I know how he feels with what happened to him today; I've had similar moments to him this year," said Kovalainen, who became the 100th driver to win a Formula One race.

Kovalainen -- greeted by chants of "Heikki!" from the large Finnish contingent in the stands -- had narrowed Massa's lead to under six seconds before the Brazilian's engine blew up and ruined his chance of taking the lead in F1's standings for the second time this season.

"I just tried to put pressure on Massa hoping something would happen," Kovalainen said. "It worked out for me. I'm very, very glad to secure the victory."

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen recovered from qualifying sixth to finish third ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and give the Italian team some needed points.

Hamilton, who won from pole here last year, came in fifth for McLaren and stretched his lead over Raikkonen in the overall standings to five points. McLaren overtook BMW Sauber to sit second in the constructors' standings -- 11 points behind Ferrari.

ALSO SUNDAY

TOUGH START, STRONG FINISH: Coming off a disheartening wreck a week earlier at Indy, Kevin Harvick got off to a very bad start Sunday at Pocono Raceway in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, getting spun out on the first lap by Joe Nemechek and winding up pitting and falling to the rear of the field before the race was two laps old.

But Harvick persevered, using strategy and a strong effort by his Richard Childress Racing crew to race to a surprising fourth-place finish that vaulted him from 13th to 11th in the season points.

"We don't give up," Harvick said. "I can promise you that. We stick in there and fight, even when they tell us we're done. To come to Pocono and finish in the top five is a huge accomplishment for me."

The key was a good car.

"We just got mired in traffic there at the beginning of the race," Harvick said. "And then, when it started raining, we just pitted and had a good strategy. We were in our window right where we only had to pit once at the end if it went green, and it went green."

STEWART FEELS BETTER: Tony Stewart was back where he feels like he belongs toward the end of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500.

Stewart finished second to Carl Edwards, matching his best finish of the season. He was also the runner-up in the season's fourth race at Atlanta, and this was only his third top-five finish in the past 14 races.

Stewart is still looking for his first win of the season, but this was definitely more like it.

"For us, that's a win," Stewart said after joking about having forgotten what it was like to come to the media center for interviews of the top-three finishers. "We finally got up to run with the guys who ran up front all day.

"After the slump we've been in, it's a great feeling to do that again. With the success we've had, sometimes you can take that for granted a little bit."

Stewart moved up one spot to ninth in the Sprint Cup standings with Sunday's finish. Only 126 points separate seventh-place Kasey Kahne from 14th-place David Ragan in the race for the 12 Chase for the Sprint Cup slots.