Hungrarian GP: Lewis Hamilton Holds his Hands up to Poor Drive
Lewis Hamilton endured his worst race of the year on one of his favourite circuits on which he was seeking a record fifth victory, but somehow, despite all the incidents, managed to increase his lead in this year's title race.
Championship leader and defending two-time champion Briton Lewis Hamilton took full responsibility for his own errors which saw him pick up two penalty points on his super-licence after Sunday's dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton endured his worst race of the year on one of his favourite circuits on which he was seeking a record fifth victory, but somehow, despite all the incidents, managed to increase his lead in this year's title race.
The 30-year-old Briton finished sixth after he had made a bad start, been involved in collisions and penalties and then recovered to collect enough points to go 21 points clear of Mercedes team-mate German Nico Rosberg, who finished eighth. (Vettel Wins for Bianchi and Ferrari)
"That was a hard afternoon," he said.
"I don't particularly feel relieved at the moment. I think I definitely had a bad day at the office - a very bad day at the office - but the team did a great job with the calls so I could at least get a couple of points."
Starting from pole position, he made a poor start, ran off into the gravel on the opening lap and fell to 10th before embarking on a long and incident-packed fight-back that included more collisions and a drive-through penalty.
His late collision with Australian Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull when the race re-started after a Safety Car intervention resulted in both his drive-through penalty and two points on his licence, the first he has picked up in more than a year.
Russian Daniil Kvyat, who finished second for Red Bull, was also given two penalty points for gaining a position by going off the track. It was also his first licence penalty.
Not entirely unexpectedly Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Lotus picked up six penalty points for his erratic performance, taking two for causing a colliding with Mexican Sergio Perez's Force India.
"They were very strict on driving," said Maldonado, who was given three penalties.
"It was different to the past, especially from the start of the season when it was more open to fighting."
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen was given three penalty points - for a total of five over the course of the season - after he failed to keep pace during the deployment of the safety car.
Penalty points on a driver's super licence do not have any direct effect unless they accumlate 12 points in a 12 months period, which may result in a one-race ban from driving.