Lewis Hamilton has praised Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas for Bottas' role in helping him secure a sixth victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
While Hamilton sped off into the distance from pole position, Bottas was responsible for fighting off and holding up the two Ferraris for much of the race. The Finn was unable to maintain second place as his tyres were heavily degraded in the closing the laps, eventually dropping to fifth after contact with both Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled Bottas as the ''perfect wingman'' but has since clarified those comments. Hamilton now has a 24-point lead over Vettel in the drivers' championship, and he believes that without his Finnish teammate, the win in Hungary might not have been possible.
"Finally sat down and I would like to give thanks and praise to Valtteri Bottas,'' Hamilton said on his Instagram story. "Without his great drive, the team may not have won today, would have been very tight at the end. But, thanks to his fight, he helped enable us to come away with three more points as a team than Ferrari.
"Don't forget, the priority for the team is to win the race and the team championship. So today he played a key role. As for me, he ultimately helped me in being supportive as a teammate, which I want to acknowledge. Huge respect between us.''
Mercedes goes into the summer break 10 points clear of Ferrari in the race for the constructors' championship.