Hamilton wins in Hungary to stretch F1 title lead

TIL Desk Sports/ Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position for Mercedes on Sunday to go into the August break with a 24-point lead over Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was runner-up, 17.1 seconds behind, and surviving a late collision with Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas who also banged bodywork with Red Bull’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Ferrari, mourning the death of former chairman Sergio Marchionne, had Kimi Raikkonen finish third to complete a podium of champions on a dry and sweltering afternoon at the Hungaroring outside Budapest. The victory was Hamilton’s record sixth in Hungary, fifth of the season and 67th of his career.

In a race effectively decided by Saturday’s wet qualifying, when Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid against expectation, Hamilton was never challenged. “We came here knowing Ferrari would be really quick this weekend so to come out with these points, we’ll definitely take it as a bonus,” said Hamilton in a pitlane interview after embracing team members.