A disciplined drive from Lewis Hamilton earned him victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday despite a fierce challenge from the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
The win brings Hamilton back into contention in the championship, lifting him to fourth in the standings as his rivals struggled.
“An amazing day, fantastic work by all the team,” Hamilton said in televised comments.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was fifth but still tops the standings by 40 points from Mark Webber, who is two points ahead of his third-place teammate Sebastian Vettel, with Hamilton five points further back. Raikkonen is now fifth, one point behind Hamilton.
It is difficult to overtake on the twisting Hungaroring track, which proved decisive for Hamilton when Raikkonen was unable to pass despite being in range to use his DRS speed boost device.
Raikkonen started fifth but moved up the field with smart strategy and took second place from Grosjean with a daring move before chasing his first win since coming back to the sport this season.
Vettel finished fourth, ahead of Alonso, with Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button sixth after a difficult race.
Williams driver Bruno Senna was seventh, his best result since April’s Chinese Grand Prix, with Webber eighth and Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa ninth.
Nico Rosberg took the final point in tenth place after a tough day for Mercedes that saw his teammate Michael Schumacher retire late in the race after his chances of points were wiped out by stalling at the start of the parade lap.
