Costly Blunders

When Fernando Alonso made his final pit stop and changed to dry tyres with only 19 laps to go in the Hungarian Grand Prix, he was in a strong position to finish on the podium. With Honda's Jenson Button just seconds in front of him yet to make his final pit stop, he looked certain to regain the lead and add 10 more points onto his Championship lead.

Yet within metres after leaving the pit lane, his Renault started to wobble heavily and at the very next corner, the wheel nut from his right rear tyre came loose, rendering Alonso a mere passenger when the car slid into the barrier.

It's all too easy to lay blame in hindsight. There was no need to rush the pit stop for Alonso at all. Michael Schumacher and Pedro de la Rosa were way back behind and had the Renault mechanics been more careful, the wheel nut would have been secured properly and Alonso could have added to his points advantage.

Yet such carelessness has cost him the race and it's the first time Alonso didn't finish a Grand Prix since Canada last year, a span of 23 races.

Alonso's misery could have been compounded had Schumi not committed a blunder of his own.

Schumi was on intermediate tyres during the latter part of the race when the track started to dry up. With Alonso retired, Schumi looked certain to finish on the podium when he held second place against de la Rosa with less than 10 laps to go. Yet with his tyres quickly deteriorating due to the drying track, he lost a huge chunk of time to de la Rosa and had to yield second place.

Then came the challenge of BMW's Nick Heidfeld.

Ferrari's strategy was obvious and understandable: Try to hold everyone up, given the difficulty to overtake on this track. And with three laps to go, it looked like that Schumi might just be able to hold on to his third place by skipping the final pit stop. By finishing third, he would score six points and cut Alonso's lead in the Championship down to five points.

But Schumi was an easy prey for Heidfeld. His Ferrari was simply not on pace with the BMW and when the pair approached the chicane. Heidfeld dove to the inside of Schumi.

Being highly competitive as always, Schumi didn't want to give up anything without a fight. And when Heidfeld dove inside of him, Schumi tried to close the door but, in the very last second, decided to back out as Heidfeld was already in front.

Alas, Schumi didn't give the BMW enough room, and the cars touched. Heidfeld was somehow safely through, but Schumi suffered a damaged front suspension and had to retire from the race. In fact, the suspension could have already been damaged when he collided with Giancarlo Fisichella earlier in the race.

Had Schumi given up his third place to Heidfeld more easily, he still could have finished in a comfortable fourth place, giving him five points. Now he is only classified eighth, with only one point as a reward.

Two major constructors, two costly blunders. It proves that no one is immune to mistakes, and that Formula One can still be as dramatic as ever.