Hamilton: Verstappen battle was a little hair-raising

While Verstappen's initial plan was to fight with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the win in Budapest, he ended up having to fend off the attacks of Hamilton in the Mercedes, a battle he miserably lost as his RB20 lacked pace as Red Bull couldn't make up for that with their usually sharp strategy.

But, in the end the rivals who fought bitterly in the 2021 Formula 1 season, found themselves fighting for the final step of the podium, a tense battle in which Verstappen fell short, as the pair clashed towards the end which the stewards deemed a racing incident.

With Verstappen dropping to fifth and stuck behind Charles Leclerc, Hamilton went on to take his 200th career podium.

Speaking in Mercedes' race report, Hamilton said: "Firstly, a huge congratulations to McLaren on the one-two and Oscar [Piastri] on his maiden victory. They were incredibly strong today and deserved the result.

"Oscar has been doing a fantastic job ever since he got into F1, been very consistent, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win.

"The team has done a great job to continue making progress with our car," the seven-time F1 Champion added reflecting on Mercedes' race.

"We knew we didn't have the speed of Oscar or Lando [Norris] today, but we were able to secure the final spot on the podium. It was a challenge at times to keep Verstappen behind whilst also making the tyres last.

"Our battle at the end was a little hair-raising but that's motor racing," Hamilton said of his Verstappen tussle. "I'm really happy to be back on the podium and for another solid points haul.

"We now head to Spa looking to finish the first half of the season on a high," he concluded.

George Russell on the other hand, recovered from his dismal qualifying (started 17th) and finished his race in eighth, he added: "Congratulations to Oscar on his victory today. McLaren have been really strong, and he's been driving really well so it is well deserved.

"We knew after yesterday's issues in qualifying that we were likely aiming for 'best of the rest' today," Russell added. "We struggle a little more in these very hot conditions, so we weren't quite able to achieve that.

"The Red Bull of Sergio Perez was quicker than we expected but we gave it a good go to get ahead of him. Getting P8 and fastest lap was still a solid recovery.

"We can also take the positives of the team being on the podium five races in a row. We have made consistent steps forward and the car has been performing much better in recent Grands Prix. Lewis drove a great race today and showed what the car was capable of. It is very close at the front between several teams now.

"We know we need to maximise every opportunity we have and execute clean weekends to score good points. We will be looking to do that starting next week in Spa," Russell concluded.

Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, summed up his team's Hungarian GP, he said: "Claiming a podium finish, our fifth race in a row doing so, feels good.

"The McLarens were very strong today and out of reach for us in these hot conditions. Congratulations to them and Oscar; they deserved today's victory. We were able to maximise the result with Lewis though and that is encouraging. To see Lewis get his 200th podium in F1, and his 151st with our team, was great.

"Yesterday's setback with George meant he had to fight through the field," the Austrian pointed out. "In the end, it was a good recovery from where he started. It was a challenging race for him with plenty of traffic in his pit window throughout much of the afternoon. Without that, he may have been able to claim one more position, but it was still a solid effort.

"We now head to Spa where the conditions will likely be cooler and hopefully that will suit us a little more," Wolff concluded.