After an unlikely one-two a fortnight ago at Hockenheim, Eddie Irvine had predicted that the Hungaroring, more suited to Ferrari, would be the perfect venue in which to claim a hat-trick of victories and a convincing grip on the leadership of the Formula One world drivers' championship.
But while luck had smiled benignly on the Irishman in Germany, and a week previously in Austria, yesterday the fates turned their fickle gaze away from the Ferrari and towards a recently benighted McLaren.
Whereas in Austria David Coulthard had ended Mika Hakkinen's challenge at the first corner, and a rear tyre blow-out had seen the Finn pirouette off the circuit and out of control of the championship at Hockenheim, Budapest restored the balance as McLaren swept to what was, in the end, a facile one-two for the defending champion and his team-mate.
On a circuit which virtually forbids overtaking, Irvine's race was run almost from the moment the lights went out and Hakkinen tore away from pole position, leaving the second-placed Irishman struggling for grip on the dirtier side of the track.
With Hakkinen building a solid lead, Ferrari's chances rested on the kind of strategic ingenuity that has seen them triumph so often. But, again, luck refused to swing Ferrari's way. Hakkinen's two perfect stops allowed the Finn to hold a commanding 30-second lead, and despite a first stop, simultaneous to Coulthard's, that allowed Irvine to blast back out on to the track fractions ahead of the Scot, strategy too failed to come to Ferrari's aid.
But with a safe six points beckoning, Irvine only had to stay in front of the McLaren number two. The task would have been easier had Irvine been aided by his supposed shotgun-rider, Mika Salo, but the Finn was marked absent, starting from a lowly 18th and finishing just six places to the good.
Yet, with just 14 laps to go and Coulthard failing to find an available overtaking slot on the tight and twisting circuit, Irvine's third second place of the season still looked a possibility.
But even then fortune failed to favour the championship leader and, plagued by worn tyres and electrical problems with the car's differential, Irvine slid wide going into turn five and Coulthard sailed past.
"It's a great feeling to be back on the winner's podium again," said Hakkinen. "By the time there were 10 laps to go I was a little nervous, after the last three races, and I was thinking, `if anything is going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong now', so I was almost holding my breath. But everything went perfectly. I had no problems with the car and was able to stay in the lead the whole way. It was a fabulous feeling." Despite a lack of any fireworks from either driver, Jordan will still be satisfied with their afternoon's work. Running on the extra soft Bridgestones, which degraded quickly and left the team little chance of playing in the big leagues, the team scored it's first twin points tally since Silverstone.
"Two cars finishing in the top six and scoring points once again proves how strong the team is, and also the competitiveness and reliability of the car," Eddie Jordan said. "It's nice to be on the podium, but fourth and sixth is fine today. It gives us an extra four points over our nearest rivals which is very important."
