F1 2017: Vettel extends championship lead with Hungary win

It was a big blow for Ricciardo, who had secured five podium finishes in the previous six races.

“Slowing down seven seconds was tough and I was nervous of losing a place to Verstappen but fortunately I didn’t”. Not only did it prove Mercedes is still not ready to favour Hamilton over Bottas, it showed a respectful attitude from a driver who has won two world championships and over half his career wins with the Silver Arrows.

The third row was filled by Red Bull cars, with Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Mexican Sergio Perez was faster than his team-mate in Force India, Esteban Ocon of France, with Stoffel Vandoorne of Belgium completing the top ten.

“It wasn’t the easiest start to the weekend, with the conditions so gusty”, Hamilton told journalists today.

“In the end I was getting a little bit anxious, I struggled with backmarkers today, but thanks to Lewis for keeping the promise and letting me by because I gave him the shot to get past the Ferraris”. It also affected Bottas on Friday.

“I love that track and it’s always been a good one for me”, he said. “The temperatures are expected to rise tomorrow, which means that we really need to get the rear end of the vehicle more stable”.

“Was that who I think it was?” a stunned Ricciardo said over his team radio seconds after being hit.

While Hamilton closed on Raikkonen, Vettel had enough pace to ensure there was never a serious attempt to overtake and the championship leader held on for victory by 0.9s to extend his advantage to 14 points. Vettel was only 1.9 seconds ahead of Raikkonen when he reported that his steering wheel was slightly out of place at the start of the 26th lap.

The opening session in the morning featured one red flagged stoppage and the second session had two with both Pascal Wehrlein of Sauber and luckless Jolyon Palmer of Renault smacking into the barriers.

“Nevertheless it is how the drivers and team operate”. It took a few minutes for the crane to lift Wehrlein’s damaged auto off the track.

“Towards the end it did come back a bit”.

10 – After 10 races this season no driver has won back-to-back races.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in action during the first free practice session. It’s a tricky little track.

Scotland’s Paul di Resta, a surprise late replacement for the ailing Felipe Massa for Williams, was retired by the team late in the race because of a technical issue.

Vettel had a patchy run in P1, losing control of the rear of his vehicle and spinning on Turn 9.