Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo claimed a stunning victory - his second of the season - in the Hungarian Grand Prix by getting the better of Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the final four laps at Hungaroring on Sunday.
Hamilton, who started the race from pitlane, after sustaining heavy damage on the chassis in the qualifying, made the most of changing track conditions and safety car periods to finish third, while Alonso finished second, after starting from P5.
Once Ricciardo took the race lead, the battle for the second place intensified between Alonso, Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The Spaniard did a brilliant job to hold Hamilton, despite worn tyres, and the Brit held Rosberg off to seal the final podium position.
"It is a great result today; I was just pushing as hard as possible to get as high as I could. It was obviously damage limitation after what happened yesterday," Hamilton said on Sunday. "I can't express the pain I feel when we have issues such as in the last couple of races; it's hard to swallow and difficult to come back the next day and get the right balance between not attacking too much, but pushing to the limit."
Earlier, the race started on the damp track and Caterham's Marcus Ericsson became the first casualty when he lost control of his car while exiting turn three in the eighth lap, which brought out the safety car. The safety car period was extended when Lotus' Romain Grosjean lost control and hit the barriers, which resulted in a big shakeup in the order.
"This race shows that anything is possible when there are unusual conditions like today, with a wet start and the appearance of the safety car," Alonso said. "We managed to make the most of all opportunities that presented themselves, taking the best decisions even at the most difficult moments."
Rosberg, who started the race in pole position, lost a number of places and dropped down the order. He also faced brake issues and was passed by a couple of cars. In Lap 56, Mercedes issued team orders and instructed Hamilton to let the championship leader pass, but the Brit declined.
Rosberg pitted again and was 20 seconds behind the race leader but the German quickly closed the gap and challenged the leading pack. However, Hamilton kept him at bay to cut the championship deficit to 11 points.
"That was a disappointing afternoon," Rosberg said. "A few things didn't work out for me and it was a very up and down race. In the beginning it was all under control. Unfortunately the safety car cost me the lead, because I just missed the pit entry and then I couldn't pit.
"I also had some braking issues after the safety car went in and a difficult period of time with handling this, which cost me some positions."
Meanwhile, Force India's race ended in a disappointing double DNFs as both their drivers - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez - hit the barriers. This is the first time in the season that the Silverstone-based outfit failed to secure any points.
"It's a very disappointing end to our weekend, just when it looked like we could have scored some big points," Perez said. "I went a little wide on the exit kerb of the final corner, lost the rear and that was it - I was in the wall. It was a very unfortunate end to our race and I feel sorry for the team because they deserved some points today."
See the full results of the Hungarian Grand Prix HERE.
