Lewis Hamilton fended off a race-long challenge from the Lotus drivers to claim a crucial victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix to reignite his championship challenge.
In a tense race dominated by tyre tactics and tyre preservation, the McLaren driver found himself under pressure from a Lotus driver for the entire race distance - first Romain Grosjean through the first two stints and then Kimi Raikkonen across the final 20 laps after the Finn had jumped up from fifth in the order.
Needing to make his set of medium tyres last for the final 21 laps in sweltering track temperatures, Hamilton, who started on pole, was initially reeled in by Raikkonen.
Yet, with overtaking all-but impossible, Hamilton withstood the pressure and in the closing laps actually eeked away again to win.
The success was Hamilton's second of the year and the 19th of his career.
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, Webber, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top 10.
Alonso stays on top of the drivers's 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.
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