Mercedes salvaged a podium and P7 from a difficult Hungarian Grand Prix as Kimi Antonelli strengthened his Formula 1 championship position and George Russell recovered from a disastrous start.

Antonelli finished third behind race winner Lando Norris and Max Verstappen after using an aggressive two-stop strategy to climb from seventh. Russell fought back to P7 after an anti-stall problem dropped him to the rear immediately after the lights went out.

Both started on the Medium tyre. Antonelli gained one place and settled into P6, while Russell was left stranded as the field accelerated away.

Mercedes is investigating the issue, although team principal Toto Wolff accepted responsibility and admitted another technical failure had cost Russell heavily.

“His problem at the start was fully on us as a team and it isn’t good enough,” Wolff said. “He has suffered too many of these problems; we are doing everything we can to get on top of them, but it is unfortunately another issue that has cost him again today.”

Overtaking remained extremely difficult around the tight Hungaroring, forcing Mercedes to search for a strategic route forward with Antonelli. The Italian teenager initially attempted to convert the race into a one-stop. Mercedes abandoned that plan when tyre wear became too severe, switching him to the Hard compound at both stops.

That created a tyre offset against several cars ahead and allowed Antonelli to cycle towards the front. He emerged in third, but a late Virtual Safety Car threatened to undo much of that work.

Ferrari used the opportunity to pit Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for Soft tyres. Antonelli remained on used Hards and faced a tense final phase with Hamilton attacking for the podium.

Antonelli summed up in parc ferme: “It was a tough race. It was really hard to overtake so we had to do something with strategy. Initially we tried to go for the one stop but then they told me the tyre was too much on the limit, so we stopped.

“With the Virtual Safety Car the two Ferraris boxed. I knew it would be very hard because I was on Hards, they were on Softs, but luckily we were able to keep them behind," added the 19-year-old, who absorbed the pressure and secured P3, limiting the damage on a weekend when Mercedes had lacked its usual qualifying strength.

Wolff added: “We nearly got very unlucky with yet another ill-timed Virtual Safety Car, but Kimi defended well to hold off Lewis. It was good damage limitation after a difficult day yesterday.”

The result preserved Antonelli’s advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship heading into the summer shutdown.

He said: “Of course I’m very happy and it’s the best way to go into the summer break,” he said. “I think today was big damage limitation and we’ve got to keep pushing because the second half is going to be hard, but we’ll try our best.”

Russell’s race became an exercise in recovery almost immediately. The Briton described the launch failure as another problem outside his control: “A terrible start is one way to put it. Nothing I could do unfortunately.

"Something happened. I was on the throttle waiting then all of a sudden the engine was going all over the place, it was revving really high and really low," Russell added.

Once the issue cleared, Russell showed competitive pace and gradually worked through the field. He also used a two-stop strategy and repeatedly attacked in traffic despite the Hungaroring’s limited overtaking opportunities.

The Briton reached the points and closed onto Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar in the final laps, but ran out of time to take P6: “I do take some satisfaction that the pace was strong. The team said it was as good as anyone out there which is a silver lining. One thing after another.”

Russell admitted the accumulation of setbacks had tested his patience. “Add it to the list of things that have happened in the first half of this year and pray things calm down in the second half. I’m staying positive.

"I’ve gone through being so disappointed with everything that’s happened in the first half of the year. At one point you need to pick yourself up and accept there are a lot of things out of your control that may work against you.

“There are things in my control I need to do better and I will continue to work on that but of course I’m not happy with how things have gone, but I’m going to stay positive and keep on pushing.”

Team boss Wolff said:  “We know we need to keep pushing after the break, keep developing and improve our reliability. That will be the key if we are to not only fight for both championships but win them.”

Mercedes heads into the shutdown leading both championships, but Budapest again exposed the reliability concerns that could shape the title fight ahead of the break, when Formula 1 gathers again for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.