Was it the fact he had switched off early in anticipation of the summer break, or was it the media headlines linking him with pop star Rhianna - one betting outlet taking odds on whether they'll be married and pregnant by the end of the year - either way, Lewis Hamilton had a Hungarian Grand Prix to forget.

Ahead of the race, the Briton, a four-time winner here, eulogised the circuit, declaring it to be one of his favourites, and with a 0.5s advantage over his teammate in qualifying, the outcome over the next 70 laps appeared to be done and dusted.

However, a nightmare start by both Silver Arrows saw Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen leading, and from there on Hamilton's afternoon got progressively worse.

"I definitely had a bad day in the office," he said, in the moments after a race in which he eventually finished sixth. "But I'm grateful the team did such a great job with the calls and I was at least able to get a couple of points.

Having at one stage apologised to the team, Hamilton, when asked what he was apologising for, replied: "The race, the whole race."

As if his (and his teammate's) poor start wasn't enough, the world champion subsequently went off through the gravel following a clash with Ricciardo, the incident resulting in a drive through and his first penalty points.

Yet, despite the off, Hamilton was to later find himself back in contention, courtesy of his raw pace and the deployment of the Safety Car following Nico Hulkenberg's accident.

However, at the re-start he collided with Ricciardo, and in addition to a drive-through he lost further time as a new front wing was fitted.

"Today was one of the worst performances I've put in for a long, long time," he admitted. "I was all over the place, I don't know if it was a lack of concentration or what. I pushed right to the end but there were so many obstacles. It's like there were two different directions and each time I chose the wrong one.

"Do I deserve any points? By the grace of God I got some points," he sighed. "I have to go away from this, take breather and come back in Spa."

Had teammate, and main championship rival Nico Rosberg, fared any better it could have been so much worse, but a late incident involving Ricciardo, in which the German picked up a puncture, dropped him down the field.

However, there was no obvious Schadenfreude from Hamilton.

"I am a different kind of sportsman to that," he said. "I am not like 'thank God' or 'good' or anything like that. I am more thinking about myself. I could have done a way better job today and then I would not have even been in this position.

"I don't know what happened, but I guess he touched Ricciardo just like I did and it just shows that I wasn't the only one to make mistakes today."

Check out our Sunday gallery, here.