ROCHFORD-BORN Will Stevens finished in 16th and last place at the Hugarian Grand Prix yesterday.

The Manor F1 driver was lapped by race winner Sebastian Vettel but enjoyed a tussle with team-mate Roberto Mehri, who finished 15th, in Budapest.

“Roberto and I have had a good battle here and this continued into the race,” said Steven, who lived in Hadleigh before moving to Surrey.

“After he pitted early on, we were chopping and changing positions and racing on different tyres at many points in the race.

“It was disappointing to have to stop at the end, but I felt a vibration on the right rear and the safest thing to do from our position was to stop and investigate that, given that we were still classified.”

The whole race meeting had been overshadowed by the death of Jules Bianchi on July 17.

The Frenchman never regained consciousness following a crash during the Japanese GP last October while driving for Marussia, which is now Manor F1.

“It’s been a pretty tough weekend for everyone in the team, but I think we can feel very proud of the job we did today,” added Stevens, who joined the other drivers in a minute’s silence before the race in memory of Bianchi.

Vettel dedicated his victory to Bianchi after winning a thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix.

In a race which had it all, the Ferrari driver finished ahead of Daniil Kvyat with the Russian’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo completing the podium.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton endured an error-prone race as he crossed the line in sixth.

But there was some joy for the Briton after his Mercedes team-mate and rival for this year’s championship Nico Rosberg could manage only eighth following a collision with Ricciardo in the closing stages.

Jenson Button finished ninth for McLaren.

The next race is the Belgian GP at Spa Francorchamps on August 23.