Ricciardo: Bottas 'over the top' in Hungary defence

Daniel Ricciardo called Valtteri Bottas' defensive move during Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix "over the top", but said he was pleased to take the position on-track despite the Mercedes driver's later penalty.

Ricciardo recovered from 12th place on the grid to finish fourth at the Hungaroring, having battled with Bottas for position in the closing stages of the race after closing the gap on the Ultrasoft tyre.

Ricciardo tried to pass Bottas around the outside of Turn 1 with four laps remaining, only for the Mercedes driver - hamstrung by front wing damage following contact with Sebastian Vettel two laps earlier - to run deep and straight into the path of the Red Bull.

The collision left Bottas' car with damage to the left sidepod, with the Mercedes team giving him the call to give up the position to Ricciardo. Ricciardo soon passed to take fourth, leaving Bottas to settle for P5 at the finish.

"I feel I did all I could, I gave him enough room. But I guess with the damage he went in pretty hot," Ricciardo said of the incident.

"It was definitely over the top, but I wanted to still get him back on-track as opposed to wait for a penalty."

Bottas was later hit with a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, but kept fifth place in the final classification.

Ricciardo was pleased to enter F1's summer break on a high after recovering from running as low as 16th in the first two laps to finish fourth, pulling off a number of bold passes on drivers throughout the race.

"It was nice to finish on a high. There have been a few races where we have not been happy, so it is nice to get a good one today," Ricciardo said.

"The start was hectic. I got beaten around a little bit, and then managed to find our way through. So that was fun. With Valtteri as well, I got him last lap, so I felt better."