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Lewis Hamilton takes F1 points lead with Hungarian GP victory

Lewis Hamilton captured his fifth Hungarian Grand Prix victory to claim the lead in the 2016 Formula 1 world championship for the first time

From second on the grid behind polesitting Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, Hamilton took the lead into the first corner and controlled the race from there.

His fifth victory in six races means he has turned a 43-point deficit into a six-point lead in that time.

Rosberg had to settle for runner-up, 1.9 seconds behind, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo just managing to hold off Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari for the final podium spot.

Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen did the same to the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in a scrap so close the Finn clipped the Dutchman's car at one stage.

Neither Mercedes had made a supreme getaway from the front row and the Red Bulls both attacked.

Ricciardo nosed ahead around the outside but Hamilton kept both the Australian and Verstappen's inside line attack at bay. Rosberg then repassed Ricciardo around the outside of Turn 2.

At first the Red Bulls stayed close to the Mercedes, with Verstappen complaining he was "driving like a grandma" behind Ricciardo.

But he the main loser in the first round of stops, dropping behind Vettel as Ferrari used an undercut and also Raikkonen, who started 14th on softs and ran 29 laps in his first stint. The time spent behind the Finn left Verstappen out of the podium fight.

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.

"I'm driving to the best of my ability," responded Hamilton, who then managed a surge to put 2.8s between himself and Rosberg.

It was enough for Hamilton to take precedence as another set of softs was fitted after 41 laps, with Rosberg following a lap later, and both stayed ahead of the early-stopping Ricciardo.

On lap 53 of 70, with Hamilton held up by the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez - earning the Mexican a middle-finger salute from the Briton when he finally passed and a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags - Rosberg closed to 0.6s.

Hamilton then edged away, only for the gap to fall to 0.6s again after 62 laps following a small lock-up at Turn 12, but it was as close as Rosberg managed to get.

Vettel steadily closed in on Ricciardo for third to no avail, while Raikkonen found himself chasing Verstappen as their alternate strategies played out, attacking repeatedly on fresh super-softs but ended up frustrated.

Behind the top six was McLaren's Fernando Alonso, followed by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr, Williams's Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg for Force India.

McLaren's Jenson Button was the only retirement after a miserable race including an early loss of hydraulic pressure affecting his brakes, a drive-through penalty for unauthorised radio communication while addressing the problem and finally an oil leak.

RESULTS - 70 LAPS:

Pos Driver Car Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h40m30.115s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1.977s
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 27.539s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 28.213s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 48.659s
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 49.044s
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1 Lap
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1 Lap
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1 Lap
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1 Lap
11 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1 Lap
12 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1 Lap
13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 1 Lap
14 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1 Lap
15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1 Lap
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 1 Lap
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1 Lap
18 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 2 Laps
19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 2 Laps
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 2 Laps
21 Rio Haryanto Manor/Mercedes 2 Laps
- Jenson Button McLaren/Honda Oil leak

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP

Pos Driver Points
1 Lewis Hamilton 192
2 Nico Rosberg 186
3 Daniel Ricciardo 115
4 Kimi Raikkonen 114
5 Sebastian Vettel 110
6 Max Verstappen 100
7 Valtteri Bottas 56
8 Sergio Perez 47
9 Felipe Massa 38
10 Carlos Sainz Jr. 30
11 Romain Grosjean 28
12 Nico Hulkenberg 27
13 Fernando Alonso 24
14 Daniil Kvyat 23
15 Jenson Button 13
16 Kevin Magnussen 6
17 Pascal Wehrlein 1
18 Stoffel Vandoorne 1
19 Esteban Gutierrez 0
20 Jolyon Palmer 0
21 Marcus Ericsson 0
22 Felipe Nasr 0
23 Rio Haryanto 0

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP

Pos Constructor Points
1 Mercedes 378
2 Ferrari 224
3 Red Bull/Renault 223
4 Williams/Mercedes 94
5 Force India/Mercedes 74
6 Toro Rosso/Ferrari 45
7 McLaren/Honda 38
8 Haas/Ferrari 28
9 Renault 6
10 Manor/Mercedes 1
11 Sauber/Ferrari 0

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