BUDAPEST, July 29: Lewis Hamilton delivered a flawless drive from pole position to the chequered flag to win Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix for McLaren and revive his challenge for this year’s Formula One drivers’ world championship.The 27-year-old Briton took control of the race from the start and stayed in front, pit stops apart, as he resisted strong late pressure to come home ahead of Finland’s Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s win was his second of the year and the 19th of his career.

Raikkonen pushed hard to find a way of passing Hamilton in the closing laps, but the Englishman resisted despite having to fight to preserve his worn tyres.

Raikkonen finished a strong second ahead of his Lotus team-mate, Frenchman Romain Grosjean, and defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.

Current world championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari came in fifth.

Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Jenson Button finished sixth, while Bruno Senna in a Williams, Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and German Nico Rosberg rounded out the top ten.

Alonso stays on top of the drivers’ standings, but Hamilton closed the gap and his victory in the much improved McLaren boosted his team’s hopes of mounting a challenge for the title in the second half of the season following the annual summer break.

Results: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:41:05.503; 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus-Renault +00:01.032; 3. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus-Renault 00:10.518; 4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 00:11.614; 5. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 00:26.653; 6. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 00:30.243; 7. Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams-Renault 00:33.899; 8. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 00:34.458; 9. Felipe Massa (Brazil)

Ferrari 00:38.350; 10. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00:51.234; 11. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 00:57.283; 12. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India-Mercedes 01:02.887; 13. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams-Renault 01:03.606; 14. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber-Ferrari 01:04.494; 15. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap; 16. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap; 17r. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham-Renault 1 lap; 18r. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber-Ferrari 2 laps; 19. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham-Renault 2 laps; 20. Charles Pic (France) Marussia-Cosworth 2 laps; 21. Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia-Cosworth; 3 laps 22. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT-Cosworth 3 laps. Retired: Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT-Cosworth 8 laps; Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 11 laps.

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, 1:24.136, lap 68.—Agencies