Hamilton led from start to finish in a race which he controlled from the very outset after overtaking pole-sitter Nico Rosberg on the long run down to turn one.
With just one more race to go before the summer break – next Sunday’s German Grand Prix – Hamilton has moved six points clear of his Mercedes team-mate Rosberg in his quest for a hat-trick of consecutive titles.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo joined Hamilton, now a winner in five of the last six grands prix, and Rosberg on the podium after he finished a distant third.
Hamilton controlled the race – even though at one stage he was told by his Mercedes team to pick up his pace – with Rosberg falling into Ricciardo’s clutches before the second and final round of pit stops.
“Okay, Lewis, Ricciardo is about to get on the back of this train, so we really need to open this gap up,” Pete Bonnington, Hamilton’s engineer, said. “I’m driving to the best of my ability with these tyres,” Hamilton replied. Bonnington added: “If the cars bunch up, we’ll be bringing Nico in first. The risk is we’re putting the win in jeopardy.” Ricciardo pitted for a second time at the end of lap 33, and suddenly Hamilton turned in his fastest laps of the race. When Hamilton and Rosberg then stopped for a second time eight and nine laps later respectively, they both emerged ahead of Ricciardo, and from there the race was all but over. A frustrated Hamilton raised his middle finger at Esteban Gutierrez after he lost more than one second lapping the Mexican driver – indeed Gutierrez was hit with a five-second penalty for ignoring the blue flags – while the Briton also lost a small chunk of time after running wide in the closing stages. But in reality, his win was never under threat. Hamilton has now triumphed more times in Hungary than any other driver in the sport’s history.Jolyon Palmer appeared on course to earn the first point of his grand prix career following a sterling display, but the British rookie spun while running in 10th and dropped three places before crossing the line in 12th.
Jenson Button endured a miserable afternoon after a hydraulic issue in the opening laps dropped him to the back of the field.He was told to continue which prompted a rather sarcastic reply from the 2009 world champion. “Fantastic,” he said. “Race from hell this is going to be.”
And it was, as he spent most of the race at the back of the field, before he retired with only a handful of laps remaining.ends
“The start was everything,” said Hamilton as he reflected on his 48th career win. “I had one of the Red Bulls on the inside of me so I was pressured quite a lot into turn one. The team did a fantastic job with the strategy. This is a great result for us as a team, but yeah, what a day.” Rosberg added: “It was all down to the start in the end. In turn one I ran out of space so I had to get out of it, and that was it really. I tried to put all the pressure possible on Lewis, but of course it is not possible to pass on this track.”
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