It was a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix for the ING Renault F1 Team today as Fernando Alonso retired in the early stages having initially led the race. After the Spaniard came in for his first scheduled pitstop, his right front tyre was not properly fitted and soon came off the car. This left Alonso limping back to the pits on three wheels. Emerging a lap down, he then suffered further problems and was forced to retire.

"Today we missed an opportunity to finish on the podium,” he said. “I made a good start and the car was quick during my first stint, but then we had a problem at my first stop fitting the right front wheel to the car. When I left the pits there was a lot of vibration and it felt like I had a puncture, but then a few corners later the wheel flew off my car.”

“I made it back to the pits to replace it, but then the problem I'd had with my fuel pump since lap two returned and started to get worse so we had to retire the car. It's a shame that we missed this chance, but these things happen in racing and I'm trying to look on the bright side because we saw this weekend that the car is very competitive. I'm now looking ahead to the next race in Valencia, where I hope we can build on the promise we have shown."

Meanwhile teammate Nelson Piquet finished 12^th after a somewhat difficult afternoon...

"I made a very good start and managed to overtake several cars, but then I was always stuck behind somebody, which didn't help my race. I was also a bit unlucky with the strategy and I think my race would have worked out a lot better if I had been in some clean air. The car was good today and I'm glad that I benefited from the new updates this weekend."

Attention now turns to the upcoming European Grand Prix in Valencia in four weeks time. The team also wishes Felipe Massa a full and speedy recovery.