Hamilton’s win in Hungary put him in the lead of the championship for the first time in 2016, leading teammate Rosberg by six points.
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His victory completed a hat-trick of successes in consecutive races, was his outright record fifth in Hungary, his fifth of the season and the 48th of his career.
The Australian’s team-mate Max Verstappen was fifth with Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finishing close behind.
Fernando Alonso showcased his pace clinging on to his seventh place finish.
Having topped the Drivers’ standings since the opening round in Australia, Rosberg has relinquished first place after coming home second in Budapest.
Just before the midway point Hamilton was warned by his team to pick up the pace otherwise Rosberg would pit first at the second round of stops to fend off the threat being posed by Ricciardo. Though Rosberg didn’t stay in DRS range for long at any point, he stayed within three seconds of the leader all race long, a competitive but quiet one-two for Formula 1’s dominant team.
Meanwhile, Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez has blasted Hamilton after the Brit appeared to give him the middle finger.
Hamilton was asked post-race whether the delay was because stewards had not planned to investigate before his interjection, to which he replied: “I don’t believe that I influenced the stewards’ enquiry”.
“I managed to get my head together and get on with it even though I have fewer engines, and all these different things that didn’t seem to be working with me, just deal with it”. He also took the drivers championship lead for the first time this year, moving six point ahead of Rosberg.
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This left Rosberg only seven-tenths behind, but Hamilton responded with a fastest lap to re-open the gap to 1.1 seconds and soon extended it to 2.9 seconds. Ricciardo, also single, added with a smile, “You know that Sunday we’re focused on the race and the task ahead, but it would be nice if we raced on Saturdays and then had Saturday evening to explore the city a bit more”. Raikkonen, 36, was unhappy with 18-year-old Verstappen’s defensive driving, and at one stage lost part of his front wing as he attempted to overtake the Red Bull driver. “It didn’t feel like it was; it was rock bottom: ‘Basically, where do we go from here?’ The only way was up”. Mercedes leads the Constructors’ Championship with 378 points ahead of Ferrari with 224 points and Red Bull with 223 points. Whereas, his teammate, Jenson Button, had to retire following several issues with the vehicle and a drive-through penalty for an “illegal” radio communication.
