British McLaren Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungarian racetrack near Budapest, Hungary yesterday. - AP

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP):

McLaren had a weekend full of contradictions at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton won yesterday's race ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, but only after the governing body of world motor sports punished his team by - ironically - putting Hamilton in the pole position.

FIA dropped defending world champion FernandoAlonso, Hamilton's McLaren teammate, five places from pole position to sixth.

"It was a very emotional race and an eventful weekend," Hamilton said. "I just tried to keep a smile on my face and try to remain positive for everyone."

Punished

Alonso was punished late Saturday after FIA ruled that McLaren had delayed Hamilton during their final pit stop in a qualifying session.

Alonso was timed at being stationary more than 30 seconds after the tyres were changed before heading out while Hamilton waited behind him in the pits.

The British team admitted yesterday that "tensions were undeniably high" during the qualifying session, but said it did not believe the sanctions were "appropriate".

FIA also said that any points won by McLaren at the Hungaroring circuit would only count toward the driver standings - and not the constructor championship.

So while Hamilton extended his lead in the standings to seven points over Alonso, 80-73, Ferrari moved eight points closer to McLaren, cutting the British team's lead to 138-119.

Appeal

McLaren said it intended to appeal against the points ban and has 48 hours after the race to present its case to FIA's Court of Appeal. It cannot appeal Alonso's relegation.

With six races remaining, McLaren will have its hands full managing the two best drivers so far of the 2007 season.

"The process of managing two such exceptional talents as Fernando and Lewis is made more challenging by having a race-winning car," the team said.

The strains in that task have become clear.

Asked after the race about his relationship with Alonso, Hamilton said he continued to have respect for the Spaniard.

"He doesn't seem to have been speaking to me since yesterday, so I don't know if he has a problem," Hamilton said, adding he felt a "big cloud" over him during the race.

"It was difficult to stay focused because you had the feeling in the team that (McLaren) won't get any points and you didn't know whether the team hated you, (or) they just hated the situation."

Earlier this year, McLaren's tactics also were questioned at the Monaco GP when Hamilton was told to "hold position" in second place behind Alonso rather than bid for victory as the McLarens went 1-2.