The Hungarian Grand Prix was supposed to be an exercise in damage limitation for Mercedes. Winning was a long-shot and "wasn't realistic", in the words of team boss Toto Wolff, in Ferrari territory.
Yet ultimately it was Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton inflicting the damage on Ferrari rather than sustaining it, thanks to what was ultimately a dominant victory.
That Mercedes came within six laps of an astonishing one-two, before Valtteri Bottas's rearguard action disintegrated, makes what happened even more unlikely. At the end of a half-season of endless plot twists, Hamilton and the Mercedes team converting disaster into triumph for the second time in seven days is a hugely significant one.
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