Lewis Hamilton teased the idea of Fernando Alonso replacing Pierre Gasly at Red Bull after the Spaniard praised the Hungarian GP.

In a tweet, the double world champion expressed his enjoyment at the battle between the Briton and Max Verstappen for victory in Budapest.

"Bravo @LewisHamilton and @Max33Verstappen!!" he said. "Pushing 70 laps to the maximum, more than one minute to the third [place car] and nearly one lap and a half to the top five. Both impressive, thanks for the show!"

That comment was picked up in time for the two drivers to be asked about it in the post-race press conference.

"Well, firstly that's really awesome that he's supportive," Hamilton said

"I was watching some of the starts of previous years and watching him in his Renault days, remembering before I got to Formula 1 watching how amazing their starts were... I don't know how old Fernando is now but he's always going to be a great driver.

"If he can get a good seat he is always welcome to battle with us. It doesn't make a difference necessarily to me, I'm here to fight whoever is here."

That then led to Verstappen noting how he never really had the chance to battle with Alonso for a serious position.

"He'd be a good teammate for you," Hamilton responded. "Speak to Christian [Horner]! You're the one with the extra seat, I would say...

"This sport needs the best drivers in the best seats, you know. And there's still at least a seat available that's good enough for winning, and he's good enough for winning so it wouldn't be such a bad thing..."

Of course, the five-time world champion is referring to Pierre Gasly, who has struggled to make an impression in his first year at Red Bull.

On Sunday in Hungary, the Frenchman again found himself fighting with the midfield teams, finishing sixth behind Carlos Sainz.

"I am not satisfied with my race, it was very difficult. Friday went well for us, but after FP3 I lost a lot of speed,” he admitted.

“Qualifying was, therefore, difficult yesterday and that was also the case today. I also had a bad start, which didn't make it any easier.

“I attacked as much as possible, but I slid in all directions and struggled with grip all afternoon. It's time to take a break, analyse everything and come back stronger in the second half of the season."