A relieved Sebastian Vettel said the Hungarian Grand Prix felt "very, very long" after he overcame steering issues to take victory at the Hungaroring and extend his lead in the Formula One drivers' standings.

Vettel led home a Ferrari one-two on Sunday, but acknowledged team-mate Kimi Raikkonen "could go a lot faster than me for the majority of the race".

Raikkonen hinted over team radio that he should have been let through due to his superior pace, but the Finn ultimately held position to ensure Vettel moved 14 points clear of his main championship rival, Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton somewhat surprisingly allowed his Mercedes colleague Valtteri Bottas to re-take third place on the final lap, after the Briton had initially been let through to launch an unsuccessful attack on the Ferraris.

"I was hoping for a bit more [of a] quiet afternoon," said Vettel as he outlined the problems he faced with his steering wheel.

"I felt already that there was something not right when we dropped the car on the grid. It was a weird feeling because basically it [the steering wheel] was tilted to the left.

"During the opening laps I felt that it wasn't right but it didn't impact too much because it was only small. Then it did get worse and towards the end of the [first] stint it started to ramp up and gradually get worse. It was more and more difficult.

"After this race I am quite certain there is a reason why the steering wheel is straight and not shifted to one side. Because it's very tricky.

"The race felt very, very long. Every lap I was looking down; it didn't end.

"The result is great. How we got there was very tense but [I'm] very happy. It's obviously a great result for the team."

Raikkonen was left to rue an error in qualifying that ensured Vettel started on pole.

"Obviously I'm not going to force the issue in the first corner. We're going to fight, but we're going to fight fair," said the 37-year-old.

"Since that moment there is not an awful lot you can do. I had a very good car, like it was yesterday [Saturday], but obviously my mistake [in qualifying] didn't help. 

"It's not ideal. Obviously I want to win, but it [a Ferrari one-two] is great for the team."