Lewis Hamilton will need to produce something special at the Hungarian Grand Prix today if he is to lead the Formula One Drivers' Championship heading into the August break. "We are in the top three teams so to qualify sixth is basically last for us".

Vettel's championship lead all but evaporated at the British Grand Prix a fortnight ago after a penultimate-lap puncture saw him limp over the line in seventh. Hamilton trails Vettel by 14 points in the standings in second. The English finished fourth.

Vettel was also imposed in Australia, Bahrain and Monaco this season.

Alonso set the fastest lap of the race and pulled in McLaren's biggest points haul of the season as the former champions moved off the bottom.

But it was far from straightforward for the German, whose vehicle suffered from steering problems which saw his early advantage whittled away as Raikkonen kept station behind him.

This was Vettel's 46th career victory.

I am truly delighted. "It was really hard". He started on pole, with Raikkonen alongside, and had to contend with a skewed steering wheel. I had to be focused throughout, but I was able to keep the cape for a nice win. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was content to take the second place in a dominant Ferrari one-two at the sweltering Hungaroring circuit. My vehicle was going really well. "The auto has been incredible today, and I love this track!" At the very end, Hamilton has shown a sporting spirit in giving him the third rank.

After the first lap crash, Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstapen was penalised with 10-second penalty and managed to finish in 5th.

"I don't think every team mate would have swapped back".

"Probably the immaturity [of his hand] ", he added to the journalists, a little later. "As we see nearly each weekend, he is equalling and matching new records in our sport's history - and building a legacy as one of the sport's greatest drivers", Wolff said. Hamilton stays at second place with 188 points while his Mercedes teammate has 169 points.

Although Friday morning's conditions are not expected to be representative of what awaits in qualifying and the race at Budapest, it was a hugely encouraging start for the former world champions after the introduction of their much-anticipated upgrade package on the RB13.

Hamilton, whose radio was malfunctioning for some of the race and would have had more of a chance had he got past Bottas earlier, said he had done what he had to do. "Obviously, the last race wasn't great for us, but we are here now".

"Being in the middle is a bit of an terrible place to be, because a bad exit in the last corner with the guy behind having DRS may allow him to get you".