Budapest, Hungary (My Sportsbook) - Defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton returned to his winning ways on Sunday by taking the Hungarian Grand Prix at a rather subdued Hungaroring following Felipe Massa's serious accident in qualifying.

Hamilton started fourth but overtook Mark Webber for second in the opening laps. Pole sitter Fernando Alonso lost his right-front tire just after making his first pit stop on lap 11. Alonso gave up the lead to Hamilton when he limped back into the pits.

The McLaren driver then dominated the 70-lap grand prix, as he finished nearly 12 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

"Fantastic, this car is so nice to drive," Hamilton radioed to his crew after taking the checkered flag.

Hamilton gave McLaren a huge boost after the team has struggled with its MP4-24 car throughout the season. The Briton recorded his 10th career F1 victory, but his first since last October in the Chinese Grand Prix. His best finish this season prior to Hungary was fourth, which came in April at Bahrain.

"It's an incredible feeling to be back here after what felt such a long time away and what was such a struggle with me and my team," Hamilton said. "We didn't expect to win this weekend. Undoubtedly, we've caught up quite a bit, but never really thought we had the pace to win."

Hamilton gave McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh his first victory since taking over as team principal at the beginning of the year.

Raikkonen's second-place finish, his best result of the season, helped lift the spirits at Ferrari one day after Massa's high-speed qualifying crash. However, Raikkonen bumped into Sebastian Vettel heading into the first corner on the opening lap. The incident was under investigation by race stewards following the race.

"I didn't notice that I had touched somebody," Raikkonen said.

Ferrari did not replace Massa after the Brazilian sustained life-threatening injuries from his crash. F1 rules prohibit a driver change after qualifying.

During the second segment of Saturday's qualifying, Massa ran off the course in turn four and slammed head on into the tire barrier after being struck on the head by a spring that came off Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP car. He underwent surgery for a fractured skull at the AEK Hospital in Budapest. Massa also suffered a concussion and a cut on his forehead during the accident.

Massa remains in serious but stable condition in intensive care. He was placed in an induced coma following the surgery.

"The condition of Felipe is stable, and there were no complications during the night," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said prior to the Hungarian GP.

F1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), plans to conduct an investigation into the incident.

Webber, winner of the German Grand Prix earlier this month, finished third, as the Red Bull driver narrowed the gap between him and current world champion points leader Jenson Button, who finished a season-worst seventh in his Brawn car.

"I think we expected to be a little bit quicker after our running (in practice) Friday," Webber said. "We knew we didn't have the advantage that we had in the last event, but I'm still pretty happy to get the result we did."

Button has accumulated 70 points, compared to 51.5 for Webber, who moved ahead of his teammate Vettel for second in the standings.

Vettel retired with a 17th-place finish shortly after his collision with Raikkonen. Vettel has 47 points so far for the season.

"(Kimi) hit my front left wing when I had contact with him in the first corner," Vettel said. "Then it was game over when the front-left suspension gave up."

Nico Rosberg from Williams finished fourth, while Hamilton's teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, came in fifth.

Alonso was also forced to retire in the early going due to his tire mishap. His Renault car suffered too much damage to continue.

"We had some troubles with the tires and the fuel pump," Alonso said. "It could be something with the rim of the wheel or maybe the frame was loose."