Webber wins Hungary

McLaren's Hamilton retired with a gearbox failure, his second blank this season, and fell to second overall, four points adrift. The Briton had led the standings since deposing Webber in Canada in June.

Vettel, starting on pole position for the seventh time in 12 races but again failing to convert the advantage, had pulled away at almost a second a lap until the safety car shook everything up.

The 23-year-old German, still the bookmakers' favourite for the title, was handed a drive-through penalty for failing to follow the rules correctly and finished third behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Webber has 161 points to Hamilton's 157, with Vettel on 151 and McLaren's world champion, Jenson Button, on 147. In one of the closest battles in years, Alonso has 141 with seven races left.

"It was a bit of a gift today for me," said Webber, his delight on the podium contrasting with Vettel's glum, scowling face. "But I have not had many of them so I will take today's.

"In the first stint I thought, 'Here we go, Budapest all over again'," added the Australian, who had feared on Saturday that his hardest task would be to stay awake as he followed Vettel around the tight, slow circuit.

"He was on pole and was leading the first stint and unless he makes a mistake or has a problem, it is probably going to be his race ... But this is racing and sometimes it happens. Most of my other victories haven't been gifted to me."

Webber, celebrating his fourth win of the campaign, did everything right after staying out while Vettel and others pitted for fresh tyres as the safety car was deployed on the 15th of 70 laps because of debris on the track.

Vettel failed to keep the correct distance in second place and was handed the penalty, a radio problem leaving him struggling to understand what he had done wrong.

While the German cruised through the pitlane shaking his fists with rage at the officials for a penalty that left him trapped behind Alonso, Webber streaked away lap after lap to build a sufficient advantage to pit and stay ahead.

"I'm obviously disappointed because otherwise it would have been a walk in the park today," said Vettel, who also remonstrated with race observer Herbie Blash after the finish.

McLaren lost Hamilton on lap 24 and also lost the lead in the constructors' standings to Red Bull, now eight points ahead.

"I was accelerating out of turn one when I felt a sudden vibration and then a loss of drive," Hamilton said. "It's a pity to have a fault at this stage in the year, but that's racing."

Button had a miserable start and, after falling to 14th, finished eighth but lapped.

The pitstops produced mayhem, with Mercedes' Nico Rosberg released with a loose wheel that then bounced around as cars were coming in.

Williams mechanic Nigel Hope was knocked unconscious by the wheel before it was caught. In the chaos, Renault's Robert Kubica was released into Force India's Adrian Sutil.

Kubica, in what is the closest thing to a home race for the Pole, was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty while Renault were given a $50,000 fine.

Renault team-mate Vitaly Petrov came good for the team, however, with the Russian rookie finishing fifth.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, back in Hungary a year after an accident that nearly killed him and ended the Brazilian's season, was fourth.

Germany's Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Williams, with Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa collecting his first points of the season for Sauber in seventh.

Japanese team-mate Kamui Kobayashi was ninth and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello 10th for Williams after passing former Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher despite the German pushing him so close to the wall that he almost skimmed it.

Barrichello, F1's most experienced racer with his 300th start coming up at Spa-Francorchamps, later said it was the most dangerous manoeuvre he had ever experienced.

Race stewards handed the German a 10-place penalty for his next race, his favourite Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.

Mercedes were fined $50,000 for the Rosberg incident.