FORMULA ONE Vettel extends lead, wins Hungarian GP

Sebastian Vettel’s luck changed for the better at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, where the German driver won to extend his championship lead over archrival Lewis Hamilton by 14 points heading into the summer break.

Vettel’s fourth win of the season came from pole position, on a Hungaroring track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Yet his 46th career win turned out to be anything but a processional affair.

Even before the start, Vettel felt something was wrong with his steering wheel. It bugged him most of the race, but with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen driving brilliantly behind him to fend off the fast-closing Mercedes, Vettel held on and Ferrari got a 1-2 with Raikkonen second.

It was some change from two weeks ago at the British GP, where Vettel’s tire punctured two laps from the end, denying him a certain podium place. At Silverstone, he just about crawled home to finish seventh, with his lead over Hamilton slashed from 20 points to a meager one.

But Vettel now jets off into his month-long break with his spirits high again in his hunt for a fifth F1 title, and first since the last of his four straight titles driving for Red Bull in 2013.

“I’m over the moon. It was a really difficult race, maybe it didn’t look like but I had my hands full,” the German driver said. “The steering started to go sideways and it seemed to get worse. Then I stayed off the kerbs, tried to save the car. I didn’t do a favor to Kimi.”

Raikkonen, never known as a “Yes man” in F1, played the game and stayed behind Vettel, protecting him from the encroaching threat of Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas, who was third, and Hamilton, who placed fourth. /