Lewis Hamilton praised the role of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in assisting his drive to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Mercedes lacked pace compared to Ferrari in dry conditions on Friday but secured a front-row lockout in wet weather on Saturday, and was braced for a challenge as the warm conditions returned on Sunday.
Hamilton led away from pole position and opened up an advantage over Bottas and the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, the German running an alternative Soft/Ultrasoft strategy.
Vettel was released into second when Bottas stopped and inherited the lead when Hamilton came into the pits, and his pace advantage effectively left him a net second, ostensibly with the intention to hunt down the Briton on softer and fresher rubber.
But Vettel’s pace dropped off at the end of the stint just as Bottas posted a sequence of rapid laps, and a slow front-left tyre change at his pit stop meant he crucially emerged behind Bottas.
Vettel was unable to find a way past Bottas until lap 65 of 70, during which period Hamilton’s advantage swelled from eight to 24 seconds.
Bottas ultimately slipped to fifth on extremely worn tyres, his plight accentuated by collisions with Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, but Hamilton was eager to point out his team-mate’s role in the win.
“I would like to give praise and thanks to Valtteri,” said Hamilton on social media, having extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 24 points.
“Without his great drive the team may not have won, [it] would have been very tight at the end.
“But thanks to his fight he enabled us to come away with three more points as a team than Ferrari.
“Don’t forget, the priority for the team is to win the race and the Teams’ championship. So he played a key role.
“As for me, he ultimately helped me in being supportive as a team-mate, which I want to acknowledge. Huge respect between us.”
Bottas and team boss Toto Wolff moved to clarify comments made in the aftermath of the race after the latter called his driver a “sensational wingman” for his efforts in the Grand Prix.
Bottas holds fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship, 81 points behind Hamilton, having yet to take a win this season.
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