HE was hanging on at the end – but Lewis Hamilton resisted pressure from Kimi Raikkonen to win the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday.
Hamilton led from start to finish to beat Lotus drivers Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean and give his McLaren team their fifth win in the last six years at the Hungaroring.
"These races remind me of the old days and this is the kind of day when you have to have your mind at 100 per cent," said Hamilton, who won at the same circuit in 2007 and 2009.
"If we were on another track where overtaking was easier, the result may have been different," he added.
"It is nice to go into the summer break knowing we have had a win. It is a great feeling. It is very important how I manage the summer break."
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth and has 164 points in the drivers' championship race, moved 40 ahead of Mark Webber, who ended up eighth for the second race in a row.
"This weekend shows it is all to play for still," said Hamilton.
"If we can continue this kind of performance we can catch up.
"We need consistency and need to improve the car still in many areas and I am sure we will do that."
Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, who has won four times at the Hungaroring, had a miserable afternoon
He was left on the grid in an aborted start, then joined from the pits and, after trying to make his way through the field, was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Scottish driver Paul Di Resta finished 12th, one place behind his Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.