Hungarian F1 Grand Prix 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights, Reaction

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton leads the Formula One driver standings for the first time in 2016 after racing to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The world champion overtook pole-sitter Nico Rosberg, who came home in second, off the line and was able to maintain a comfortable distance to his team-mate. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo joined the two Mercedes men on the podium, taking a hard-earned third place.

This win, Hamilton’s fifth at the Hungaroring, means he leads Rosberg by six points in the race for the title, with just one race remaining before the summer break. Here is the race result and updated driver standings.

POS	DRIVER	CAR	TIME/RETIRED
1	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:40:30.115
2	Nico Rosberg	MERCEDES	+1.977s
3	Daniel Ricciardo	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	+27.539s
4	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	+28.213s
5	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	+48.659s
6	Kimi Raikkonen	FERRARI	+49.044s
7	Fernando Alonso	MCLAREN HONDA	+1 lap
8	Carlos Sainz	TORO ROSSO FERRARI	+1 lap
9	Valtteri Bottas	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	+1 lap
10	Nico Hulkenberg	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	+1 lap
11	Sergio Perez	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	+1 lap
12	Jolyon Palmer	RENAULT	+1 lap
13	Esteban Gutierrez	HAAS FERRARI	+1 lap
14	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	+1 lap
15	Kevin Magnussen	RENAULT	+1 lap
16	Daniil Kvyat	TORO ROSSO FERRARI	+1 lap
17	Felipe Nasr	SAUBER FERRARI	+1 lap
18	Felipe Massa	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	+2 laps
19	Pascal Wehrlein	MRT MERCEDES	+2 laps
20	Marcus Ericsson	SAUBER FERRARI	+2 laps
21	Rio Haryanto	MRT MERCEDES	+2 laps
NC	Jenson Button	MCLAREN HONDA	DNF

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	CAR	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	MERCEDES	192
2	Nico Rosberg	GER	MERCEDES	186
3	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	115
4	Kimi Raikkonen	FIN	FERRARI	114
5	Sebastian Vettel	GER	FERRARI	110
6	Max Verstappen	NED	RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER	100
7	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	56
8	Sergio Perez	MEX	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	47
9	Felipe Massa	BRA	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	38
10	Carlos Sainz	ESP	TORO ROSSO FERRARI	30
11	Romain Grosjean	FRA	HAAS FERRARI	28
12	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	FORCE INDIA MERCEDES	27
13	Fernando Alonso	ESP	MCLAREN HONDA	24
14	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	TORO ROSSO FERRARI	23
15	Jenson Button	GBR	MCLAREN HONDA	13
16	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	RENAULT	6
17	Pascal Wehrlein	GER	MRT MERCEDES	1
18	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	MCLAREN HONDA	1
19	Esteban Gutierrez	MEX	HAAS FERRARI	0
20	Jolyon Palmer	GBR	RENAULT	0
21	Marcus Ericsson	SWE	SAUBER FERRARI	0
22	Felipe Nasr	BRA	SAUBER FERRARI	0
23	Rio Haryanto	INA	MRT MERCEDES	0

Hamilton Holds Off Rosberg

After losing out late in qualifying on Saturday, it was Hamilton who was fastest off the line, placing his car perfectly to surge away from Rosberg when the lights went out.

The latter was temporarily overhauled by the Red Bull of Ricciardo, although Rosberg eventually did enough to nip back in front of the Australian. Meanwhile, Hamilton stormed off down the road. As we can see here, the Mercedes Twitter feed enjoyed the opening stages:

Here’s a glimpse of the start from the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, per F1 journalist Gianlu D’Alessandro:

Meanwhile, further back in the field, Jenson Button, a winner in Hungary in 2006, was having some big braking problems but was advised to stay out by his engineer. “Oh, fantastic!” was the McLaren man’s blunt response, per DW Sports. “The race from hell this is going to be.”

Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Following the first round of pit stops, Hamilton lost some ground to Rosberg, with the champion complaining on the team radio that he was struggling for grip on the soft compound. Further back, Ricciardo and Vettel were both gaining on the leading pair, too.

As noted by the F1 Twitter feed, after such a strong start, some concerns were creeping in at Mercedes:

Hamilton was able to stabilise the gap eventually, with Rosberg unable to get within striking distance on a track that’s extremely difficult to pull off overtakes. But with the cars behind closing in, there was another warning from the engineers to get a move on to Hamilton, as Ricciardo dived into the pits and produced a storming lap not long after.

However, the leader seemed to find something extra following the final gee up, as he extended his gap to Rosberg before jumping into the pits to latch on the soft compound. Suddenly, the world champion was looking a lot more comfortable at the front.

Meanwhile, as Vettel battled to stay in the race, he was beginning to get frustrated when lapped cars weren’t getting out of the way quick enough, per F1 on NBC Sports:

Further back, Kimi Raikkonen had been setting some blistering pace in the Ferrari and was seeking to get ahead of Max Verstappen for fifth place. The two men came into contact with 13 laps remaining, and the veteran Finn was not pleased with the driving of the Dutchman in front.

Here's a look at the moment they collided:

This is what Raikkonen, who wasn't able to squeeze past Verstappen, had to say about the incident (Warning: NSFW language):

In the final stages up front, whenever Rosberg closed the gap on his team-mate, sometimes to less than one second, Hamilton always seemed to have something in reserve and was able to pull away again. It allowed the Briton to take the chequered flag comfortably in the end—and the lead of the championship with it.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Afterward, Hamilton spoke of how significant the start was. "The start was everything, I got a good start and one of the Red Bulls was in the inside of me so I was pressured a lot into Turn 1," he said after the race, per BBC Sport. "This is a great result for the team—what a day."

Per the same source, Rosberg lamented his slow getaway. "It was all down to the start in the end," said the Mercedes man. "With Daniel on one side and Lewis on the other I was out of space and that was it really. It is not possible to pass on this track."

FERENC ISZA/Getty Images

Following Rosberg’s dominance in the early stages of the season, Hamilton will be delighted to have found his groove and taken the lead for the first time this year. As we approach the halfway point, the momentum is massively behind the Englishman.

Rosberg will be desperate to get back in front at his home grand prix in Germany next weekend. Should his team-mate continue his recent good form there ahead of the summer break, he’ll be a difficult man to reel in later in the season.