Piastri wins Hungarian Grand Prix as Norris belatedly hands back lead in McLaren intra-team drama

Oscar Piastri has taken his debut Grand Prix victory in Hungary after intra-team drama played out, with McLaren team mate Lando Norris belatedly responding to an order to hand back the lead to the Australian who had lost out due to the team’s pit stop strategy.

After the duo went three abreast with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the line, Piastri emerged as the leader into Turn 1 and from there led much of the Grand Prix. However, when Norris was pitted first during the second round of stops – seemingly to cover off Lewis Hamilton behind – the Briton was the one to emerge ahead.

This prompted the team to make several calls to Norris to give back the position to his fellow McLaren driver, an order that he seemed reluctant to follow for many laps. However, on Lap 68 of 70, Norris slowed down and allowed Piastri to pass.

The 23-year-old went on to take the win, two seconds up the road from Norris. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, claimed the final podium position in third for Mercedes, having faced drama of his own after contact with Max Verstappen during a late-race battle.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, while Verstappen dropped down to fifth and will also be investigated by the stewards for his incident with Hamilton. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz followed in sixth, ahead of the Red Bull of Sergio Perez who made ground from his P16 starting position.

George Russell also took points after starting back in P17, having crossed the line in P8, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top-10.

Fernando Alonso just missed out in P11 for Aston Martin, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who had a somewhat disappointing day in the RB after lining up in P9 on the grid.

Nico Hulkenberg took 13th place in the Haas, while Alex Albon followed for Williams in 14th and Kevin Magnussen put his Haas into 15th place.

Kick Sauber’s search for points continues as Valtteri Bottas ended the day in P16, with Williams’ Logan Sargeant behind in P17.

Alpine’s tough weekend also endured as Esteban Ocon took P18, while Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was the final classified runner in P19.

Pierre Gasly became the sole retiree after suffering a suspected hydraulic leak in the Alpine.

AS IT HAPPENED

After an eventful qualifying session on Saturday – which saw Norris claim pole in a McLaren one-two amid mixed weather conditions and two red flags – the focus of the paddock turned to Sunday’s 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix.

One alteration to the grid was confirmed ahead of the event, with Gasly set to start from the pit lane after Alpine opted to make set-up and power unit changes prior to the race. This followed on from a difficult qualifying for the team, where Ocon and Gasly ended up down in 19th and 20th respectively.

There was some concern around Norris’ car as preparations got underway on the grid prior to lights-out after the Briton reported: “Something’s definitely not right with the throttle – it’s not how it should be”. The pole-sitter could only look on as the mechanics set to work on solving the issue.

Fortunately, the problems seemed to be fixed in time and, soon afterwards, the tyre blankets came off after all of the field had assembled. It was revealed that most of the pack had bolted on the medium compound for the expected two-stop race, with the exceptions being Perez, Russell and Gasly on the hard and Albon, Magnussen and the Aston Martins running the soft.

Norris made a strong launch off the line but so did Piastri and Verstappen, resulting in the trio going three abreast into Turn 1. Piastri ultimately won out to take the lead, while Verstappen went wide on the outside before rejoining the track ahead of Norris. The latter then lost out to Hamilton, yet snatched the position back in the next sequence of corners.

Verstappen was soon noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, with Norris unhappy over the radio about the incident. Hamilton, meanwhile, remained in fourth, while Leclerc had made the leap on Ferrari team mate Sainz for fifth place.

As Lap 4 ticked down – and Piastri had already built a gap of more than two seconds – Verstappen was advised by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to hand the position back to Norris, given the potential threat of a penalty. The Dutchman obliged but voiced his annoyance, commenting; “Okay, you can just drive people off the track then.”

This seemed to spark more determination from Verstappen as he chased down Norris to fight back. Elsewhere, the Aston Martin pair of Alonso and Stroll in seventh and eight had built up quite a queue of cars behind them, seemingly prompting Albon and Magnussen to attempt the undercut by pitting on Lap 7.

More cars from the midfield also started to make their first pit stops, allowing the likes of Perez and Russell – who started down in 16th and 17th respectively – to make up positions, with Russell soon hunting down Bottas for ninth place.

Meanwhile, up at the front, Piastri had continued to grow his lead to three seconds on Lap 11. The Australian reported that he was feeling comfortable on his tyres, having been told to try to save them as early as Lap 2. Behind him, Norris had a gap of over two seconds to Verstappen in third.

“Lando, we believe our race is with Verstappen,” Norris was told by his engineer on Lap 14, a message that perhaps may not have been music to the ears of the Briton. Another driver not sounding too happy was Alonso, who was informed about team mate Stroll’s pit stop options before responding that he "doesn't care”.

Hamilton became the first of the front-runners to pit come Lap 17, the Mercedes driver emerging with a set of hard tyres on in P7 as he looked to make the undercut on Verstappen in the battle for third. Norris, meanwhile, was encouraged to apply “100% pace” before diving into the pits himself.

This brought the McLaren man back out into P5 on the hard compound, while Piastri followed one lap later for the hard rubber and rejoined ahead of his team mate in P4. As for Verstappen – who had yet to pit, putting him in the lead – the Red Bull driver reported that he was struggling to turn the car.

Also yet to pit were the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz, running in second and third. Further back, going long did not seem to be paying off for Russell and Perez, who were making little ground in eighth and ninth places by Lap 20.

A flurry of action ensued in the pit lane on Lap 22 as Verstappen swept in for a smooth stop, bringing the Red Bull out in fifth on the hard tyre, while Sainz bolted on the same compound but returned to the track down in ninth, leaving him behind Perez.

This all handed the lead to Leclerc, who was yet to stop. “Keep it up, this is really good driving,” the Monegasque was informed over the radio – before making his visit to the pits on Lap 24 and crucially getting back on track in P5 ahead of Tsunoda, with the RB not having pitted yet.

Sainz, meanwhile, had managed to overtake Perez for P8, while Hamilton – who had taken third from Verstappen thanks to making the undercut – was showing good pace. But so was Verstappen, having pumped in another fastest lap on Lap 26, hinting at an interesting battle for that final podium position.

Alonso was looking racy as he tried to find a way past Hulkenberg for 11th, with the Aston Martin getting incredibly close before having to back out. However, a lock-up from the Haas allowed Alonso through, which also brought Stroll into the fight with Hulkenberg. The next target for Alonso was Gasly, while Stroll soon snatched P12 behind.

On Lap 29, Perez made his first pit stop for the medium tyres, bringing him out in P15 behind the Kick Sauber of Bottas. Elsewhere, Ricciardo – who had started the race from P9 – made a second visit to the pits and emerged at the rear of the field, having lost out during the earlier round of stops.

Perez’s fresh rubber was helping the Mexican to make gains, having picked off several cars in the laps after his stop to go up to 11th by Lap 33. Up ahead, Piastri had a slight off but remained in the lead, while Hamilton had Verstappen breathing down his neck in the scrap for third place.

Hamilton locked up as he tried to defend against the world champion in Turn 1, letting Verstappen squeeze through, but the Red Bull man out-braked himself on the exit, which then helped the Mercedes to retake P3.

Meanwhile, Norris had closed the gap to Piastri to around 1.5 seconds – was the leader struggling with his tyres? Further back, Gasly’s car was retired from the running due to a suspected hydraulic leak, marking a disappointing run after he was unable to take the start last time out at Silverstone.

By the 38th tour and over halfway through the race, Verstappen was not letting up in his pursuit of Hamilton as the latter battled with his aging tyres – which also seemed to be bringing Leclerc into the fray, the Ferrari having closed to less than one second behind Verstappen.

With Norris still around 1.5s behind Piastri, the British driver was informed over the radio: “Okay to race the papaya car, but only to the mid-forties”. Hamilton also received radio communication, instructing him to pit, but the Mercedes did not respond to the call.

Come Lap 41, the seven-time world champion then made his pit stop along with Leclerc, bringing them out in fifth on the hard tyres and sixth with the medium on respectively. Verstappen voiced his unhappiness about being undercut, stating in explicit terms that it had ruined his race.

Norris became the first of the top four to pit on Lap 46, with the McLaren reemerging on scrubbed medium tyres in fourth place. Piastri was then told “we'll manage the situation”, suggesting that the squad had brought his team mate in first to cover off the risk from Hamilton behind.

Two laps on, Piastri pitted for the medium tyres – on a slower stop than Norris – and returned to the track behind his fellow McLaren driver in P3. As such, Norris was then informed: “We’d like to reestablish the order at your convenience”.

Verstappen, meanwhile, made his pit stop from the temporary lead and rejoined in fifth, behind Hamilton in third and Leclerc in fourth. Sainz followed in sixth, while Russell and Perez were finally making gains from having clean air in seventh and eighth.

With 20 laps remaining, a radio message to Piastri explained that they would swap positions “once you get to Lando” – but added that they were keen to avoid Norris giving up too much race time, with the gap between them standing at three seconds.

Verstappen was flying in fifth, prompting a sarcastic message from Lambiase about his tyre management before the Dutchman issued a sweary response. At the front, Norris was encouraged to save his tyres as Piastri seemingly struggled to close the gap behind.

On Lap 57, Verstappen utilised DRS into Turn 1 to surge past Leclerc, with Hamilton the next target a further two seconds up the road. As for McLaren, the outcome of the situation remained unclear, with Norris being told, “I know you'll do the right thing” – yet the gap was now at four seconds.

With less than 10 laps to go, it looked increasingly unlikely that Norris would hand the lead to his team mate. “Remember, every single Sunday morning meeting we have,” he was told, to which he responded: “Tell him to catch up then please.”

Behind them, Verstappen had caught up with Hamilton and engaged in another close duel with his former title rival. The Dutchman was unhappy with Hamilton’s defensive moves, but tried again into Turn 1 – before locking up and making contact with the Mercedes, resulting in the Red Bull bouncing in the air and leaving the track.

This dropped him down to fifth and also resulted in an investigation from the stewards. But up at the front, the drama looked to be over as, come Lap 68, Norris slowed enough to allow Piastri through.

And while it looked like the Briton may continue to challenge for the lead, it was the Australian who ultimately crossed the line to take to his debut Grand Prix victory in Formula 1, more than two seconds ahead in the end.

Hamilton took a well-earned final podium position of third, with Leclerc taking fourth for Ferrari while Verstappen ended the race in fifth, pending a stewards’ investigation over that incident with Hamilton.

Sainz was sixth, ahead of Perez and Russell in seventh and eighth respectively, having both managed to make ground from their low grid positions. Tsunoda took two points for RB in ninth, ahead of Stroll in the Aston Martin rounding out the top-10.

Alonso finished a few seconds back from his team mate in 11th, from Ricciardo in 12th, Hulkenberg in 13th and Albon and Magnussen in 14th and 15th respectively.

Bottas and Kick Sauber again missed out on points in P16, as did the Williams of Sargeant, Alpine’s Ocon and the other Kick Sauber of Zhou who completed the order.

Gasly remained the only retiree from the event, having recorded a DNF owing to a suspected hydraulic leak in the Alpine.

Key quote

"[It's] very, very special," said Piastri. "This is really the day I dreamed of as a kid, standing on the top step of an F1 podium. Obviously a bit complicated at the end but I put myself in the right position at the start, and thank you to the team for an amazing effort, and amazing car. It’s a hell of a lot of fun racing for McLaren so I can’t thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to be in F1, and to be able to win together 18 months in is an incredible feeling."

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