Temperatures may have soared at the Hungarian Grand Prix but Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes ensured cool heads prevailed as the British driver took a win that takes him into Formula One’s summer break in excellent shape. The victory, a command performance in the natural amphitheatre of the Hungaroring, puts him 24 points clear of his title rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, and intriguingly in a strong position to buck Hungary’s trend, that has stood for more than a decade, of auguring ill for the winner.

F1: Lewis Hamilton wins in Hungary to extend lead over Sebastian Vettel – reaction Read more

Hamilton won with a dominant run, after he had done the hard work by putting his car on pole in treacherous, wet conditions on Saturday. His lap had been a masterclass and he and Mercedes exploited their advantage on a circuit where overtaking is exceptionally difficult while the track reached temperatures as high as 60C. He led from the front and despite Ferrari’s best efforts to attempt a tyre strategy to counter their rivals, second for Vettel, from fourth on the grid, was the best they could have managed.

With four world championships under his belt, Hamilton is in a toe-to-toe fight with Vettel to become the first of the pair to equal Juan Manuel Fangio and win five. He is one step closer with victory at a track he can truly claim as his own. He now has six wins in Hungary and is the most successful driver at the race. He has won exactly half of the meetings he has contested here, a remarkable feat, but has never go on to take the title after victory. Indeed, no driver has gone on to win the championship after taking the flag here since Michael Schumacher in 2004.

Hamilton’s 67th career win and his fifth of the season means he enters the title run-in in a strong position to finally claim Hungary and the title. He now has daylight between himself and Vettel, with a lead that is almost more than a DNF over the German. The lead has changed hands six times between the two this season but this is the largest gap either has held so far.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Ricciardo (left) put in another fine display. Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Hamilton was unsurprisingly pleased with the result at a track where Mercedes have been third fastest to Ferrari and Red Bull all weekend except in qualifying. Their car is ill-suited to the slow and medium-speed corners of the Hungaroring but they executed their plans to perfection.

Vettel was sanguine that it was the best he could have achieved but he goes into the break ruing the error that ended his race in Germany. Kimi Räikkönen finished in third, no mean feat given he had to complete the 70 laps, which took place at 33C, with his drink bottle disconnected and thus unable to take on any fluid.

The race had been unspectacular, if not easy for Hamilton and the crucial moment came at the start. Having held his lead for a one-two with teammate Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap, he was able to dictate the race. He had opened on the quickest ultra-soft tyres, where Ferrari opted to try Vettel on the harder, soft rubber, looking for him to go long and attack Hamilton on fresh tyres at the end.

Lando Norris: ‘Growing up watching Lewis, McLaren was my favourite car’ | Giles Richards Read more

Vettel made a place up on lap one, passing Räikkönen for third round the outside of turn two and the race strategies became clear. With Hamilton pitting for the soft rubber on lap 25, Vettel tried to make up time in clean air and jump Bottas for second through his stop. He appeared to have done it but for late traffic and then a poor stop from Ferrari. Pitting on lap 39 a problem with the front left was costly, the stop took 4.5sec and Vettel emerged behind Bottas.

Ferrari’s gamble to catch Hamilton had failed and even second looked some way off. Hamilton, now back in the lead, had an 8sec gap up front and Vettel could make no impact on the Finn. He stuck at it however and finally, with his fresher rubber making the difference, passed Bottas on lap 65. But Hamilton was long gone.

His lead at the end was 17sec, unthinkable after the weekend’s early running and a huge result for Mercedes. To have taken the maximum from one of the three circuits at which they are weakest (alongside Monaco and Singapore) is a major result. It gives Hamilton, who traditionally ends the season strongly, the points and the momentum, having definitively applied the heat to Vettel in Hungary.

His teammate Bottas took damage to the front wing, clipping Vettel after the German had passed him, and subsequently lost a place to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Bottas hit the Australian as he passed and was given a 10-second penalty after the race. Ricciardo finished in fourth and Bottas remained in fifth despite the penalty.

Fernando Alonso managed to come home in eighth place for McLaren on his 37th birthday. The Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly was in sixth place. Kevin Magnussen in the Haas was seventh, with his teammate Romain Grosjean 10th. Carlos Sainz in the Renault was ninth.