Hamilton: Heart moment could come back to bite me

Cape Town - Although Lewis Hamilton hopes his decision to listen to his heart instead of his head doesn't come back to bite him, he says it was right to hand back third place to Valtteri Bottas in Hungary.

With Hamilton the faster of the two Mercedes drivers at the Hungaroring on Sunday, Mercedes asked Bottas to move over for his team-mate and allow Hamilton a chance at attacking the Ferraris.

The decision was made with the agreement that Hamilton would hand the position back to Bottas if he was unsuccessful.

As a result, despite being seven seconds up the road from his team-mate, Hamiltom slowed on the line, putting Bottas up into third place and on the podium.

It was a call that cost the Brit three World Championship points, which hurt all that little bit more given that it was Sebastian Vettel who won the grand prix.

Hamilton, though, says it was the "right" thing to do.

He said: "I don't know whether that could come back to bite me in the backside or not, but I said at the beginning of the year I want to win it the right way and today was the right way to do things."

Asked whether he had listened to his head or his heart, the Brit said: "More from the heart probably. The mind is more cut-throat, every point counts, and it's do-or-die.

"But it was the right thing to do."

He added: "For whatever reason I was the quicker car today and it's kind of a grey area, because if he had let me by and I had pulled him along and we were two seconds apart, then it's a much easier thing to let him back.

"But obviously I was seven seconds up ahead and just with the Ferraris, the team were in a difficult position. 

"But today really shows hopefully that I am a man of my word and also that I am a team player. 

"I am just as much a part of this team as anyone and I think we're working together better than we ever had, so I think today shows unity.

"I think, in life, you do good things and good things do come round back to you."

"Me and Valtteri have a great amount of respect for each other.

"Just as the team asked him to do a job and he did it, the same rules apply to me."