Hamilton wins in Hungary, keeps Vettel at bay
LEWIS HAMILTON won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position yesterday to extend his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton was untroubled as he secured a second straight win, his fifth of the season and 67th overall. Vettel was second.
“It’s great to go into the break with back-to-back wins,” Hamilton said. “That boost will last a long time with our team.”
Hamilton now leads Vettel by 24 points after 12 of 21 races.
“What a beautiful day, what a great car,” said Hamilton, who won by 17 seconds. “We’ve had an amazing job by the team and we came here with Ferrari pushing.”
Mercedes missed out on a 1-2 as Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen with five laps to go.
Bottas and Vettel touched during the overtaking move, with some debris flying off the Mercedes.
“I got a hit from behind. I wasn’t sure what was going on,” Vettel said. “Lucky that the car wasn’t broken and we could carry on.”
‘It’s great to go into the break with back-toback wins. That boost will last a long time with our team.’
In a dramatic finish, Bottas lost control of his car as he bumped Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull off the track as he was about to be overtaken.
Bottas was told on team radio to give the position back to Ricciardo, who finished a commendable fourth after starting 12th. Bottas risked further penalty after being summoned to speak to stewards over the incident.
Ricciardo’s teammate, Max Verstappen, launched a series of expletives after engine failure curtailed his race after eight laps.
It is the fourth time Verstappen has failed to finish this season. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner blamed the Renault engine as being substandard. Red Bull is splitting with Renault and working with Honda next season.
Hamilton and Vettel will continue their battle for a fifth F1 title when the championship resumes at the Belgian GP on August 26.
Vettel and Raikkonen drove well, considering both endured a botched pit stop because of a slow tire change.