Hungary Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton clinches record-breaking fifth win at Hungaroring
Hamilton now stands six points ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg
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Your support makes all the difference.Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has emerged triumphant at the Hungarian Grand Prix, his fifth title at the Hungaroring track.
With 192 points, Hamilton has now taken the Championship lead off teammate Nico Rosberg who finished second in today’s race and currently stands six points behind the Briton on 186 points.
It was another Mercedes one-two which follows a successful season so far for the team. Rosberg won the first four races this year, while Hamilton has won five of the last six. Max Verstappen is the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2016.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton said: “The track is great, the city is great and thank you to the fans. The start was everything in the race, I was pressured into turn one but the team did a fantastic job with the strategy. This is a great result for us as a team, but yes, what a day."
Until Sunday, Hamilton had shared the record for Hungary GP wins with seven times champion Michael Schumacher.
"I grew up watching Michael so to have a similar number, and now one more than he had here, is incredible," the 31-year-old said.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Red Bull after pushing the Mercedes pair hard enough at one point for the champions to tell Hamilton to pick up the pace.
Ferrari's four times world champion Sebastian Vettel, also a previous winner in Hungary, finished fourth after sounding off over the team radio about slower cars holding him up as he lapped them.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen held off Ferrari's feisty Kimi Raikkonen for fifth. The Finn had started 14th but a long first stint saw him challenging the Dutchman.
The battle between the pair provided a moment of excitement in an otherwise uneventful race, with Raikkonen clipping the back of Verstappen's car and damaging his front wing in an attempt to pass the 18-year-old.
Fernando Alonso was the sole surviving McLaren in seventh.
McLaren's hopes of a strong result on the back of their best qualifying performance since renewing their engine partnership with Honda were dashed early on, with Jenson Button falling down the order with hydraulics problems.
The 2009 world champion also collected a drive-through penalty for a breach of radio rules before finally retiring late in the race.
Rosberg, who has also won five races this year, will have the chance to seize back the lead in his home German Grand Prix. The race at Hockenheim, absent from the calendar last year, takes place in just a week's time.
"It was all down to the start in the end," said Rosberg of Sunday's race. "From then on I was trying to put all the pressure on Lewis but it's not possible to pass at this track.
"To have the next race coming up very quickly sounds good, at my home race...it's going to be awesome."
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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