Daniel Ricciardo has produced an impressive performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix overnight, finishing in eighth place, while Lewis Hamilton dominated to take out the win.

Beginning in 11th place, Ricciardo got off to a great start amid the opening lap chaos and soon made it inside the top 10 as drivers took early pit stops to change from intermediate wet weather tyres to slicks.

The Motorsport Australia ambassador slowly climbed up the field and was as high as fifth before being the last driver to take his second pit stop, which saw him drop to ninth.

After rejoining the field and quickly passing Haas’ Kevin Magnussen to slot into eighth, he was unable to chase down Racing Point’s Sergio Perez for seventh as the West Australian comfortably finished in the points for the second week in a row.

“Overall, I’m happy with how it went,” Ricciardo said post-race.

 

“I gave everything I could and I felt we got the most from it today.

 

“We’ve had eighth in every race so far. It’s not bad, but I do feel we have the speed for more from the first three races.

 

“We’re not far from top-six finishes, it’s coming, and we know bigger points are around the corner.”

 

While Ricciardo enjoyed a solid day at the office, at the front of the grid, Hamilton was too strong for anyone to catch, leading the field from lights to flag.

With such a big gap between he and the second placed Max Verstappen, a late ‘free’ pit stop from the Briton saw him change tyres to also secure the fastest lap bonus point on the final lap. 

 

The battle for second also went down to the wire as a resilient Verstappen held off a fast charging Valtteri Bottas by half a second – an impressive effort from the Red Bull driver considered his dreadful start, which involved him hitting the wall when making his way to the grid before the race even began. 

Photo: Mercedes F1 Media/LAT Images

Following Hamilton’s dominant victory, the Mercedes driver paid tribute to his team.

“Honestly, it was one of my favourite races to have raced,” Hamilton said

 

“Whilst I was on my own for the race, it was just a different kind of challenge.

 

“We had great pace, it couldn’t have been without guys, with great pit stops, great strategy and, right at the end there, because I was managing those mediums (tyres) for a long-long time, it was perfect to get on the fresh (soft) tyre and get the extra point.”

 

The victory was the reigning Formula 1 champion’s eighth at the Hungaroring, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of the most wins at a single track in a process, a record Schumacher achieved at the French Grand Prix.

After three consecutive race weekends, the FIA Formula 1 Championship has a week off before heading to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on Sunday 2 August.