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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Lando Norris held off a late-race challenge from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to win Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungoraring.
Norris used a one-stop strategy to his advantage and beat Piastri to the finish by .698 seconds to claim his fifth victory of the season.
Together, the McLaren teammates have won 11 of the 14 races this season.
“We weren’t really planning on the one-stop at the beginning, but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things. It was tough,” Norris said.
“The final stint with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat-out. My voice has gone a little bit! But good, rewarding even more because of that – the perfect result today.”
Piastri said catching Norris was one thing, but passing him was something different.
“I pushed as hard as I could. I think after I saw Lando going for a one [stop], I knew I was going to have overtake on track, which is much easier said than done around here,” said Piastri.
Polesitter Charles Leclerc had made a strong start to hold P1 when the race got underway, allowing the Ferrari driver to build up a steady lead over Piastri in P2 during the opening stages of the race – a position he maintained amid the first round of pit stops, despite Piastri’s attempt to undercut his rival.
However, the picture started to evolve as different strategies played out amongst the frontrunners, with Leclerc and Piastri – both on two-stop plans – finding themselves behind the one-stopping Norris in the final phase of the race.
While Leclerc’s pace fell away in the latter stages, a fast Piastri set about chasing down Norris for the lead – leading to a gripping conclusion as the Australian was hot on the tail of his team mate in the final laps.
Despite a couple of attempts, Piastri could not find a way past the other McLaren, with Norris crossing the line just 0.698s ahead to seal his fifth win of the season. This has cut Piastri’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship down to nine points entering into the summer break.
George Russell took third for Mercedes, having overtaken polesitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to claim the final spot on the podium.
Leclerc had to settle for fourth, with Fernando Alonso making a solid drive to claim fifth for Aston Martin.
Gabriel Bortoleto was sixth for Sauber, with Lance Stroll seventh in the second Aston Martin.
Max Verstappen finished ninth for Red Bull.
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