Drama Surrounding Piastri

LIVE: Who will win the Hungarian Grand Prix?

Lando Norris(Bild: AP/Darko Vojinovic)

Lando Norris secured McLaren’s first victory of the season at the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The world champion prevailed on Sunday ahead of Red Bull star Max Verstappen and championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The highly touted Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton missed the podium, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Antonelli extended his lead in the championship. The young Mercedes star now leads Hamilton by 50 points and his teammate George Russell by 59.

(Bild: GEPA)

Norris, who on Saturday became the first non-Mercedes driver to secure pole position this season, repeated his victory from last year in Mogyorod near Budapest. “I’m happy to finally be back on top,” said the 26-year-old Englishman. “I got everything out of the car. It was maybe the best pace I’ve ever had.” Norris had lost the lead after the start in Turn 2 on the outside to his teammate Oscar Piastri, who had started from third place.

Hamilton overtook Verstappen—who was in third place at the time—with an early pit stop. However, the Dutchman squeezed back past the record-holding world champion on the inside with a spectacular passing move. Finishing second exceeded his own expectations with a car that was difficult to drive—a fact Verstappen had complained about several times over the weekend. “It’s unbelievable that I’m second here. I didn’t expect to be on the podium. But we worked hard.”

Gearbox failure for Piastri
Hamilton pitted for the second time after 30 of 70 laps—putting pressure on McLaren in the process. Norris complained over the team radio that he could drive significantly faster than Piastri. McLaren subsequently brought Piastri in for his second stop unexpectedly early, without any real need. The Australian was unlucky that, shortly afterward, the inattentive Carlos Sainz in the Williams crashed into him while lapping him.

Norris benefited from this; after his later pit stop, he remained ahead of his teammate, overtook Antonelli—who was still leading at that point—on the track on lap 46, and pulled away.

Here are the final results:

Piastri’s gearbox then failed. His retirement triggered a virtual safety car, which shook up the standings once again in the closing stages. Norris and the Ferraris pitted for fresh tires. However, Hamilton was unable to get past Antonelli and even received a five-second penalty for excessive speed in the pits. As a result, fourth place went to Leclerc. “They’re handing out penalties like crazy,” Hamilton grumbled over the radio, having already been set back three grid positions the previous day in qualifying for obstructing Piastri.

Here’s the standings in the Drivers’ Championship:

Another Setback for Russell
Verstappen exceeded his own low expectations—which were due to the car being difficult to drive—by finishing second. For Russell, who had been knocked out of the race by Hamilton on the first lap at Spa a week earlier, this marked yet another setback. The Mercedes driver, who had been the top title contender at the start of the season, nearly stalled at the start and fell to the back of the field. Seventh place, just behind Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull, was the best the Englishman could manage. The two Racing Bulls drivers, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, also scored championship points, finishing eighth and tenth, respectively.

A total of 310,000 spectators over the entire weekend set a new attendance record at the Hungaroring, which has hosted the premier class annually since 1986. Norris won the historic race from pole position, becoming the first driver to do so since record winner Hamilton in 2020. Formula 1 now heads into a four-week summer break. The next race will take place on August 23 in Zandvoort, the Netherlands.