Hungarian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton wins to stretch his championship lead amid dramatic final laps

Reigning champion takes 24-point lead into summer break, but teammate Valtteri Bottas crashes twice in closing stages as Sebastian Vettel salvages second place

Lewis Hamilton dealt another blow to Sebastian Vettel's title hopes by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix and extending his championship lead.

Hamilton did not put a foot wrong at the Hungaroring after blasting off his marks from pole position before controlling the race to claim his fifth victory of the campaign.

Vettel, who started from fourth, took on a different strategy to Hamilton, and did enough to get the jump on Valtteri Bottas, only for a slow pit stop to have seemingly cost him dearly.

The Ferrari driver emerged behind Bottas and it looked set to finish that way before Vettel took second by driving round the outside of the Finn at the first turn with five laps to go.

Bottas ran into the back of the Ferrari as he attempted to defend the position, but Vettel escaped without any damage to finish 17 seconds behind Hamilton, with Kimi Raikkonen third.

Valtteri Bottas crashed twice late on to drop him from second to fifth (EPA)

Bottas, who lost part of his front wing, finished fifth after a late collision with Daniel Ricciardo, who then overtook the Finn on the final lap in his second shot at the wounded Mercedes car.

Hamilton said: "We came here knowing Ferrari would be really quick this weekend, but to come out with these points, we'll definitely take it as a bonus.

"I am really happy with how strong it's come the last couple of races. We've got to come strong in the next half of the season."

Vettel added: "It was a tough race. We were out of position. I think we could have gone with Lewis today with the race pace.

"Second is not really what we wanted this weekend, but I think it was the maximum today."

Lewis Hamilton crosses the line to win the Hungarian Grand Prix (AFP/Getty)

Results

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1hr 37mins 16.427secs

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 01:37:33.550

3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 01:37:36.528

4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 01:38:02.846

5 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 01:38:06.427

6 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:38:29.700

7 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 at 1 Lap

8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 1 Lap

9 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap

10 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 at 1 Lap

11 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap

12 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault at 1 Lap

13 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India at 1 Lap

14 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India at 1 Lap

15 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari at 2 Laps

16 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams at 2 Laps

17 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 2 Laps

Not Classified:

18 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 49 Laps completed

19 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 5 Laps completed

20 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari 0 Laps Completed