Kovalainen capitalised on Felipe Massa's misfortune, as the leading Ferrari driver's engine blew up just three laps from the end of the 70 lap race.

Massa had driven impressively, storming past Lewis Hamilton, in pole, and Kovalainen at the first corner, and maintaining his lead throughout until his misfortune gifted the race to Kovy.

Hamilton was also the recipient of bad luck, suffering a puncture mid-race that saw him drop from second to 10th place, before he battled back to a respectable fifth at the finish.

Toyota's Timo Glock was delighted with his first ever podium place - a superb second spot - with Kimi Raikkonen salvaging some pride after poor qualifying sessions by finishing third.

Renault's Nelson Piquet, Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica collected the rest of the points.

Brackley-based Honda Racing finished with Jenson Button in 12th position and Rubens Barrichello in 16th. Silverstone-based Force India saw Giancarlo Fisichello finish one spot ahead of Barrichello in 15th, with Adrian Sutil being forced to retire after 62 laps.

Hungarian Grand Prix Results
1 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes Winner
2 Timo Glock Toyota +11.0 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +16.8 secs
4 Fernando Alonso Renault +21.6 secs
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +23.0 secs
6 Nelsinho Piquet Renault +32.2 secs
7 Jarno Trulli Toyota +36.4 secs
8 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +48.3 secs
9 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +58.8 secs
10 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +67.7 secs
11 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault +70.4 secs
12 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap
13 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
14 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota +1 Lap
15 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari +1 Lap
16 Rubens Barrichello Honda +2 Laps
17 Felipe Massa Ferrari +3 Laps
18 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari +3 Laps
Ret Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari +8 Laps
Ret Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari +48 Laps