Ferrari fightback no surprise for Hamilton

Felipe Massa showed that his team's Hockenheim troubles were a one-off when he pulled off a sensational move around the outside of pole position man Hamilton at the first corner in Hungary, before edging clear in the lead.

The Brazilian's victory appeared almost certain when Hamilton was slowed by a puncture, but just three laps from home his Ferrari engine blew up, handing the win to McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

And although Ferrari's return to form was not expected after the pace they showed in qualifying, Hamilton says he never imagined the Italian outfit would not remain a serious threat for the title.

"They were strong," said Hamilton, who recovered from his puncture to finish fifth. "If we had been out in front then it perhaps would have been a little bit different.

"But Hungary showed they had some really strong pace, which we already knew they had. It's just you guys (the media) seem to think there's a huge difference."

Although Hamilton's puncture did cost him valuable points, the British driver was not too disheartened after actually increasing his lead in the world championship through Massa's retirement.

"I think I drove well. I didn't make any mistakes. I just had a puncture. I brought the car home as safe as possible and scored as many points as I could, so there's not much more you can ask for.

"It's just unfortunate I was the one to get a puncture, and it was a case of 'oh no, not again.' I had it three times last year, or whatever it was, and that's what really lost me the championship.

"It can be very, very costly, but Kimi didn't win, and it actually helps Heikki has won and Glock was second. They are taking points off everyone else, so I'm quite happy.

"My lead is bigger now and you would never have thought that with all that has gone on this year."

Hamilton said his team remain totally focused on improving their car, and that he would push himself and his engineers as hard as possible for the rest of the season.

"There's still a long way to go," he explained. "I'm going to make sure I work very hard and that physically I am well prepared for the rest of the season.

"I'm going to make sure we keep up with the performance we have, and I think you've seen that here

"In the second stint I was quite a bit heavier than Felipe and I was keeping up with him, and catching him sometimes. I think I showed pretty good pace this weekend, that I still continue to have the strong pace that I have in races.

"I think me and Felipe were the quickest out there, and so it's still good to have that."

Hamilton also told Massa that he would not allow him a repeat of his move at the first corner if similar circumstances appeared in the future.

"I had one of my best ever starts, but Felipe had an even better one. I covered my ground on the inside. He locked up and then turned, so I thought we were going to touch, so I slowed down even more.

"But he still pulled it off, and I lost a place. It won't happen again."