Oscar Piastri wins his first F1 Grand Prix in Hungary after a dramatic end that left doubt over whether Lando Norris would follow team orders.
At the race start, it initially seemed as though Norris managed to get a strong getaway off the line, though it quickly became clear that Piastri got an even better one, with Norris being forced to defend the position. Verstappen utilised the slipstream from the cars ahead to threaten the two McLarens with taking the lead for himself, leading to the three going alongside each other into turn 1.
Piastri went deep into the corner, forcing Norris a little wider, though the Brit was still able to stay within track limits. The same couldn’t be said for Verstappen, who had went off track to take 2nd away from Norris, who was also being threatened by Hamilton for a brief moment.
Verstappen had initially wanted to keep the position, feeling he was forced off, but with Norris in a difficult position on track and unable to really go anywhere else, Verstappen had no choice but to give back a the position a couple of laps later to avoid getting a penalty.
With tyre degradation so high around the Hungaroring, mixed in with the high temperatures, and it wasn’t entirely surprising that some drivers came in for their first stops very early into the race. The soft runners of Albon, Magnussen and Ocon pit at the end of lap 6, followed by Ricciardo and Alonso just one lap later. This allowed for Perez and Russell, starting far down the order and starting on hard tyres, to gain some early track position and look to make gains in clearer air.
Hamilton was able to stick relatively closely to Verstappen early on, who himself was losing ground to the McLarens ahead, though was just out of reach of gaining DRS. Unable to get closer and starting to be put under threat from Leclerc, Hamilton pulled the trigger on his first pit stop on lap 15, hoping to gain an undercut on his old championship rival.
The Hamilton undercut also forced McLaren into taking action, fearing that if they stayed out too long it would bring Hamilton into the fight. Norris would be the first to come in on lap 18, to protect his 2nd place, whilst Piastri would be in just one lap later, maintaining his lead despite being undercut due to the gap he had built in the first stint.
Verstappen would come in on lap 21, now with a tyre offset to his main rivals, but now 7 seconds behind Hamilton. With a car that wasn’t quite to his liking in this race, it initially seemed like it could be a tall ask for Verstappen to catch up in a reasonable time frame, let alone overtake those ahead at a track sometimes referred to as “Monaco without the barriers”.
However, it would seem that Verstappen, in spite of his complaints over the radio, was performing rather well in the clear air, managing to get within DRS range of Hamilton by lap 33.
Verstappen was using a setup that had lower drag than Hamilton, which would aid in overtaking, but had also made the car quite understeer-y, which was on full display when the Dutchman first attempted an overtake on lap 35. Verstappen was initially able to marginally gain the position on the exit of turn 1 after Hamilton locked up, but would carry too much speed trying to make it stick around the outside of turn 2, briefly taking to the grass and falling back behind.
Further ahead and Piastri’s lead had been cut down somewhat after a poor lap from the Australian, the gap reducing to under two seconds when it had been over four. However, both McLaren drivers were rather equal on pace, and Norris wasn’t able to make too many inroads after that.
The Hamilton-Verstappen battle continued to rage on, with the Mercedes driver continuing to win out and stay ahead. The squabbling had allowed Leclerc to get into the mix, the fight for third turning into a three way battle.
After initially being called in for his 2nd stop on lap 40, Hamilton would go on to pit one lap later, though apprehensive about how far he would have to take his tyres to the end. Leclerc followed him in, whilst Verstappen stayed out, and whilst Hamilton would go onto hard tyres, Leclerc would go onto mediums. The two of them pitting was something that Verstappen was very unhappy about, complaining about how the team just allowed themselves to get undercut so easy, with the world champion now having to do more work to try and fight for the podium, or possibly more.
The pitstops from Hamilton and Leclerc was once again something McLaren were monitoring, and fearing that Hamilton would close the gap, Norris would be the first to box once again. However, this time Piastri’s lead wasn’t as big, and it quickly became clear that Norris would take first place, which is exactly what happened when Piastri came in a couple of laps later, now two seconds behind his teammate.
Almost immediately Norris was asked to give the position back, but due to the gap between the two drivers, not helped by Piastri going wide at turn 12, this would be at Norris’ convenience, not wanting to lose too much time and risk someone else ruining the potential 1-2 on McLaren’s hands.
Verstappen would make his final stop on lap 50, now in 5th and 5 seconds behind Leclerc. The chase for the podium was now on, and it would take 7 laps for the reigning world champion to take back 4th.
Whilst this was going on there was growing apprehension in the McLaren camp. Norris’ gap to Piastri was only growing larger, and the team had to both remind him not to take too much life out of his tyres, alongside reminding him that he needed to let Piastri through. Norris was not happy with this, and would continue at his normal pace. The team would tell him that they were sure he’d do the right thing, and to remember the team meetings on every Sunday morning, but it remained unclear whether Norris would follow the team orders.
Verstappen had caught up to Hamilton by lap 61, but again it appeared difficult for Verstappen to make the overtake. Lap 62 saw Verstappen being squeezed at the outside of turn 2, though just about within regulations. Verstappen was once again unhappy, feeling that Hamilton didn’t leave a car’s width, though it wouldn’t compare to how unhappy he would feel just one lap later.
Coming down to turn 1, Verstappen was able to brake much later due to his fresher tyres, but it would end up being too late, and the Dutchman would have a massive lockup on the brakes and begin to continue straight ahead. Hamilton, with nowhere else to go, turned into the corner, and the two made contact, not for the first time in their careers. Neither car appeared particularly damaged, though Verstappen’s car did go airborne for a brief moment, and was lucky to remain in the race, though now sat behind Leclerc once again, and would be unable to get back through by the end of the race.
The debate continued to rage at McLaren, but it would ultimately be settled on lap 68, with Norris finally letting Piastri through, having been reminded that should a late safety car come out, then he would not be able to give the position back. Whilst Norris would stay close until the end of the race, he would not threaten Piastri’s win.
The win is Piastri’s first Grand Prix victory of his career, and first race win since the 2023 Qatar sprint race. It is also McLaren’s first 1-2 since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, following on from their front row yesterday being their first in 12 years.
The gap at the top of the driver’s championship has now been cut down to 76 points, whilst the constructor’s championship is now down to 51 points. With 11 more races to go in this season, there may still yet be a title fight.
The next race is the Belgian Grand Prix, taking place next weekend and will be the last race before F1 takes its annual summer break.
