• Hamilton scores first victory since October
• Raikkonen faces steward inquiry over crash

Lewis Hamilton produced a faultless display in Hungary to claim his and McLaren’s first grand prix victory of the season, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

The reigning formula one world champion began the race in fourth place on the grid, but made a superb passing move on Webber to take second place after five laps, before the leader Fernando Alonso went into the pits after claiming pole position with a light fuel load.

Alonso was forced out of the race shortly after his pit stop, when a problem with his right front tyre saw it fly off the Renault and bounce down the track. It was a worrying moment in the race, thoughts of Henry Surtees’ tragic death and Felipe Massa’s accident on Saturday inevitably coming to mind.

But Hamilton, who assumed the race lead when Alonso pitted, maintained his composure to produce the kind of race that have made him one of the most respected drivers on the grid.

There were few threats from other competitors, and he crossed the finish line 70 laps later with Raikkonen and Webber taking second and third positions.

A naturally delighted Hamilton said: “It’s an incredible feeling to be back here after what feels such a long time away and given the struggles for my team. But I’m so proud of them. They’ve never given up, which is so rare to see in a large group of people.

“We didn’t expect to win this weekend. Naturally we’ve caught up, but we didn’t think we had the pace, so it’s very special to win this one.”

Raikkonen could yet be stripped of second following a first-corner collision with Sebastian Vettel that is to be investigated by the stewards.

Webber closed the gap to Jenson Button at the top of the driver’s standings to 18.5 points. The world championship leader had his worst result of the season in the Brawn GP car, finishing in seventh place.

Result

1 Lewis Hamilton

2 Kimi Räikkönen +11.5 secs

3 Mark Webber +16.8 secs

4 Nico Rosberg +26.9 secs

5 Heikki Kovalainen +34.3 secs

6 Timo Glock +35.2 secs

7 Jenson Button +55.0 secs

8 Jarno Trulli +68.1 secs

9 Kazuki Nakajima +68.7 secs

10 Rubens Barrichello +69.2 secs

Overall standings

1) Jenson Button 70

2) Mark Webber 51.5

3) Sebastian Vettel 47

4) Rubens Barrichello 44

5) Nico Rosberg 25.5

6) Jarno Trulli 22.5

7) Felipe Massa 22

8) Lewis Hamilton 19

9) Kimi Räikkönen 18

10) Timo Glock 16