Red Bull Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany is sprayed with champagne by Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton (not pictured) of Britain as Lotus F1 Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen (L) of Finland looks on, on the podium at the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit in Mogyorod, near Budapest July 28, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Vettel has four wins overall, having won the German GP three weeks ago, but his tire option didn't work out.

"The start was difficult, and when Lewis pulled in we thought we could do it on the softs,'' Vettel said. "I damaged my front wing, which did not help. We wanted a little bit more today."

He tried desperately to get past Raikkonen, and they almost collided on the next-to-last lap. Vettel thought the Finn should have given him more room.

"I told him but he was laughing," Vettel said.

Meanwhile, the pressure was on tire manufacturer Pirelli.

The teams recently held in-season testing sessions at Silverstone to assess new tires provided by Pirelli, after several spectacular blowouts on the same circuit at the British GP in June prompted a boycott threat from drivers.

Pirelli decided that from this race until the end of the season it will revert to last year's tires combined with the current compounds from this season.

"The first time ever I can remember my tires not being a problem," Hamilton said.

With 14 corners and short straights, the Hungaroring is the second most difficult track for overtaking after Monaco - although it has a long run down to Turn 1. Hamilton held his racing line perfectly on it to get an early boost.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, who started third and finished sixth, tried to pass inside Vettel before the first turn, but the German moved to the right.

Rosberg went wide on Turn 5 and onto the grass, and then shortly after nudged into Felipe Massa's Ferrari to dislodge the Brazilian's front wing.

Staying out longer on medium-compound tires, Button blocked Vettel to allow Hamilton to streak ahead.

Grosjean was given a drive-through penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, while an earlier collision with Button cost him a 20-second time penalty. It made no difference to the race positions.

Alonso was referred to race stewards for using his DRS system - a strictly controlled device that helps overtaking - on three occasions when he was not allowed to. He kept his points but Ferrari was fined almost $20,000.