Having dominated the British and German grands prix, Hamilton headed to the Hungaroring full of confidence and in the lead of the Drivers' Championship.
However, the McLaren driver was quickly brought down by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who pulled off an aggressive overtaking move to take the lead of the race.
The Brazilian was on course for the victory, which would have handed him the lead in the Drivers' standings, before an engine failure three laps from the checkered flag put an end to his charge.
Massa's retirement proved to be Hamilton's blessing as it allowed the McLaren man to extend his lead in the Championship to five points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
But with seven races still to be run Hamilton says McLaren need to heed the warning issued by Ferrari in Hungary and up the pace if they hope to win this year's titles.
"In a way, the result in Hungary was a very important lesson for the team: it showed us in no uncertain terms that we cannot afford to be complacent and need to work hard throughout the summer break to make sure we can hit back strongly in Valencia," Hamilton told his website.
"You can never underestimate a team like Ferrari, and we know they'll be pushing just as hard as us to gain an advantage for the remainder of the year.
"Who knows, if we'd had an easier race in Hungary, maybe it would have come back and bitten us later in the season, so I feel confident that we won't be taking anything for granted.
"I know that everybody in Woking, Stuttgart and Brixworth will be working flat-out to make sure we can be strong in all the remaining races."
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