Romain Grosjean said Enstone-based Lotus deserved to pick up points at an eventful Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman finished seventh in a race won by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

His Lotus teammate, Pastor Maldanado, was 14th after two drive through penalties and a ten-second addition to his time.

The race was the first since the death of Jules Bianchi, who died on July 17 from brain injuries suffered in a crash at last year’s Japanese GP while racing for former Banbury team Marussia.

Grosjean, who qualified tenth, had to recover from a poor start and a penalty for an unsafe release from the pits, but found himself battling with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who suffered a puncture.

The 29-year-old said: “I think it was an incredible race.

“We really pushed hard and it was good, we deserved some points.

“I had a terrible start, lost a lot of spaces and I was pushed into the gravel on the first lap.

“I came back on track and couldn’t pass the McLaren.

“Then there was a penalty for an unsafe release and the safety car.

“But we got the strategy right and, after all that, we ended up fighting with the Mercedes.”

Grove-based Williams endured a disappointing race, scoring no points with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finishing 12th and 13th respectively.

Massa was handed a five-second penalty for being out of position on the gird and struggled after the first stop on the medium tyre.

Bottas started well and found himself in fourth place, but was hit after the safety car restart, causing a right-rear puncture.

"It was a really challenging day for us," said Massa.

"I got a penalty early on and then the medium tyre in traffic didn’t work well for me at all, it was uphill from there on.

"As a team we walked away with no points, which is a blow for the Championship, but something we now have to make up for."