Hamilton now six points clear in the Drivers' Championship; Ricciardo third for Red Bull; Ferrari and Red Bull separated by a point
Sunday 24 July 2016 22:47, UK
Lewis Hamilton has taken the lead of the world championship with victory ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Hungarian GP.
43 points behind Rosberg five races ago, Hamilton now leads the title race by six points at the halfway stage of the season.
The reigning world champion has now won five times at the Hungaroring with his latest triumph the 48th of his F1 career.
The race at the Hungaroring was effectively decided when a fast-starting Hamilton beat the pole-sitting Rosberg off the line to assume control on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult and was at a premium this Sunday.
"It was all down to the start and I lost out," said Rosberg. "I ran out of space and that was it really."
Twice Rosberg closed to within half a second of his team-mate only for Hamilton to immediately increase his pace and pull away.
"I knew what I was doing, it's not like I've not been doing this for a long time," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
"There was never a moment that I felt that I was going to lose it. Because it's so hot here, you don't need a five or ten second gap. I just need to do what I have to do."
Hamilton was also warned to speed up at one stage by his Mercedes team when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who rounded off the podium to climb to third in the drivers' championship, threatened to catch Rosberg.
But after Ricciardo ultimately crossed the line almost half a minute behind Hamilton, Red Bull boss Christian Horner conceded: "Mercedes were in a different Formula."
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari while the cars of Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen made contact as the teenager held off the Finn, who accused Verstappen of an illegal block, for fifth.
"I could see him coming, he was very optimistic to dive into the inside so I went to the inside and he had to brake - he locked up and hit the rear of my car," said Verstappen. "I've seen people penalised for much less," retorted Raikkonen.
Ferrari and Red Bull are now separated by a single point in the Constructors' Championship as pressure continues to ramp up on the stagnating Scuderia.
Although Fernando Alonso finished seventh for McLaren, team-mate Jenson Button suffered the "race from hell" after his car suffered a crippling mechanical failure in the opening stages.
Rather farcically, insult was then added to injury when the stewards penalised Button for the radio messages he received as the former world champion sought to fix the problem. "It was ridiculous for him to be given a drive-through penalty," thundered Sky F1's Paul di Resta. "He is already last - where is the sense in this?"
Jolyon Palmer, meanwhile, spun when running in the points and finished 12th. The Renault rookie is still yet to score a point this term and remains in urgent need of a positive result as he fights to retain his seat. "If he doesn't learn from this it will be goodbye," observed Sky F1's Johnny Herbert. Palmer himself described the mistake as a "disaster".
Toro Rosso's ever-improving Carlos Sainz, the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg rounded off the top ten.
The next race, the German GP, takes place in a week's time and is the last before the sport breaks up for its summer holiday.
Hungarian Grand Prix Race Result
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:40:30.115
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 1.977s
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull + 27.539
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari + 28.213s
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 48.659s
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 49.044
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren + 1 lap
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso + 1 lap
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams + 1 lap
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India + 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, + 1 lap
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, + 1 lap
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, + 1 lap
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, + 1 lap
16. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap
17. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, + 1 lap
18. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 2 laps
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, + 2 laps
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, + 2 laps
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, + 2 laps
RET. Jenson Button, McLaren
Don't miss the F1 Report: Hungarian GP review on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday as Marc Priestley and Ben Hunt join Natalie Pinkham in the studio to discuss the fallout from the Budapest race.
