The Briton finished ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Valtteri Bottas third. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll took the flag in fourth ahead of Red Bull driver Alexander Albon and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Following a deluge of rain an hour before the start, the race began in damp conditions. Indeed, Verstappen could count himself fortunate to even make the start after he thudded into the barriers on his way to the grid.
Verstappen started in seventh, but he was soon up to third following an emphatic start in the greasy conditions.
Max Verstappen crashes on his way to the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix (Getty)
Hamilton was supreme off his marks, too, leading the drag race down to the opening bend from Stroll and Verstappen. Remarkably, the Englishman finished the first lap three seconds clear of Stroll.
Starting alongside Hamilton, Bottas had been expected to take the challenge to his Mercedes team-mate, but his afternoon was dealt a major blow following a poor start which saw him fall from the front row to seventh by the end of the first tour.
Bottas attempted to chase down Verstappen in the closing stages, taking on a new set of tyres with 20 laps remaining, but the Finn’s challenge fell just short.
From there, the Englishman never looked back. He was even able to stop for a fresh set of tyres with four laps to run to take a bonus point for the fastest lap, crossing the line 8.7 seconds clear of Verstappen and lapping the entire field up to Albon in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton takes victory at the Hungaroring to win an eighth Hungarian Grand Prix (AP)
As well as it being his third victory in a row at the Hungaroring, it was also his eighth in all here, matching Schumacher who won the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours eight times.
Hamilton’s triumph, the 86th of his career, now moves him to within just five of Schumacher’s win record, and following Mercedes’ emphatic performance this weekend, the Briton is now the overwhelming favourite to join the German on seven championship triumphs.
Albon passed Vettel for fifth in the closing stages. Sergio Perez, who started fourth, finished seventh following a poor start.
McLaren’s Lando Norris also suffered at the start, finishing a lowly 14th from his position of eighth on the grid.
Source: The Independent