Lewis Hamilton: "Hungarian GP was one of my favourite races"

Lewis Hamilton may have faced minimal competition in winning the Hungarian Grand Prix but said it was one of his favourite races in Formula One. The Mercedes driver converted his 90th pole into a record-equalling eighth win at the Hungaroring, matching the number of victories Michael Schumacher accumulated at the French Grand Prix.

Hamilton got away well and had a lead of over three seconds by the end of the first lap, though most drivers started on intermediate tyres and pitted for slicks early on. The six-time champion managed his tyres well as an anticipated downpour never arrived, and his advantage grew to a size that enabled him to take a free pit stop with four laps remaining. Hamilton was sent back out on the soft compound and earned an extra point by setting the fastest lap.

Hamilton relishes Hungaroring victory

"Honestly, it was one of my favourite races to have raced. While I was on my own in the race it was just a different kind of challenge," said Hamilton. "Of course, we had great pace, but it couldn't have been [done] without the guys that have been working, great pit stops, great strategy, and right at the end it was perfect to get on the fresh tyre and get an extra point. I think round one was multiple different punches that I wasn't perhaps ready for, but I re-focused and the last two have been fantastic. We were on point throughout this weekend so need to keep this up."

Valtteri Bottas qualified second but took third behind Max Verstappen after a bungled start saw him immediately fall back through the field. "It was pretty bad race to be honest for me. Starting from second you aim to win the race, but I lost it at the start," said Bottas. "I reacted to a light on my dash that went off. I don't know what it was, but something changed on my dash so I reacted to that instead of the start lights so I had anti-stall and had to start again and I wasn't there. I lost many places and it made the race difficult for me."