Daniel Ricciardo captured the chequered flag for the second time this season at the end of an astonishing Hungarian grand prix yesterday afternoon.

Rain, crashes and safety cars made for a stunning race, aiding the previously forlorn Lewis Hamilton following his fire in qualifying on Saturday into another podium finish for the second successive Sunday from a seemingly hopeless position.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso secured second for his best result for 10 months, with Hamilton hanging on to third by the skin of his teeth ahead of his charging Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Fearing a 30-point deficit to Rosberg going into the summer break in the wake of the fire that resulted in him starting from the pit lane to the German’s pole, Hamilton is now only 11 points adrift with eight races to run.

With his trademark beaming smile in evidence, a thrilled Ricciardo said of his win: “It feels as good as the first, it really does.

“The first safety car was to our advantage but the second didn’t help us. 

“We managed to pull it off in the end and those last few laps were a lot of fun.”

Despite missing out on Ferrari’s first win for 25 races as the team ran the Spaniard to the end for over 30 laps on soft tyres, a happy Alonso said: “I’m extremely satisfied.

“It’s been a tough weekend, a tough season, so to get a podium was a nice surprise.

“We gambled to get the victory, and we came close, but I’m extremely happy.

“We have needed some crazy races this year to get some podiums and this was an opportunity which we took.”