Villeneuve rides on Hill's bad luck

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve took full advantage of his former team-mate Damon Hill's cruel misfortune to win the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring on Sunday afternoon. Hill was leading comfortably when he had a hydraulic problem with his Arrows car, which also stuck in gear, and Villeneuve surged by on the last of the 77 laps to win, with Hill limping home a brave second place. British driver Johnny Herbert completed the podium in third place.Michael Schumacher retained his Championship lead in this 11th round after finishing fourth despite tyre problems, but Villeneuve reduced the advantage to just three points. German Heinz Harald Frentzen's bad luck continued when he was forced out when leading, with a fuel pump problem, with his Castrol-backed Rothmans Williams Renault.

``My pit told me that Damon was starting to slow with just two laps remaining and I managed to pass him on the grass on the last lap,'' explained a relieved Villeneuve, after his fifth Grand Prix victory of the season. ``Damon was really flying and he just disappeared after the first pit stop. Towards the end of the race it was beginning to look grim and I thought he was going to win.''

Hill made a magnificient start from the second row of the grid and on lap 11 dived inside his great rival and early leader Michael Schumacher to take the lead at the first bend. Mika Hakkinen dropped out of third place on lap 13 and Schumacher started to slow with tyre problems. Villeneuve moved into second place a lap after. Frentzen was flying and after all the leaders had made their first pit stop he led the race using hard compound tyres, but then flames started to pour from the rear of his Williams Renault and he was forced to retire in the pits on lap 29. He was due only to stop once for fuel and tyres.

Hill started to pull away from his pursuers, led by Villeneuve who was hounded by the McLaren Mercedes of Coulthard, with Schumacher coming under pressure from Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan. But the real drama came with two laps to go when Hill slowed dramatically.

``Just when you start thinking you are going to win a race something goes wrong,'' explained Hill, with a wry smile. ``There was a problem with the hydraulic pump, then the throttle stuck intermittently and then the car stuck in gear. I'm feeling both sad and happy at the moment.''

Nakano and Irvine collided on the last lap. Nakano recovered to finish in sixth place, behind Ralf Schumacher but Irvine finished out of the points in ninth place.

Williams closed Ferrari's advantage to just two points in the Constructors Championship with six rounds remaining.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.