Ferrari and McLaren prepare for final push

By Mark Ledsom

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Formula One started its mid-season break on Monday but the sport's heavyweights Ferrari and McLaren vowed there would be little let-up as they began preparations for the decisive stage of the season.

Both teams will offer welcome time off to drivers and mechanics in a three-week pause from official test sessions before the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 24.

But serious work will continue at the respective bases after Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix maintained the tension at the top of the standings.

"We showed the worth of our team and our drivers but we lacked the total reliability which is absolutely vital," Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicalli said after Felipe Massa missed out on taking the overall championship lead following an engine failure just three laps from the chequered flag.

"We have three weeks of hard work ahead of us to be as well prepared as possible for the European Grand Prix," he added.

Ferrari also spotted a mechanical problem with Kimi Raikkonen's car and instructed the Finn to ease up on the final laps, though Domenicalli said the two faults were unrelated.

Raikkonen got the car home in third place behind McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Toyota's Timo Glock as Ferrari stayed on top of the constructors' championship.

Lewis Hamilton's fifth place following a puncture in the race's middle section was enough to keep the McLaren man on top of the drivers' standings, however, with Raikkonen climbing into second place, just five points behind.