Here is Giles Richards’ race report on a day of high drama at the Hungaroring.
Some words from Lando Norris: “It was tough. It’s tough for anyone when you’re leading the race. I was put in that position, they made me box first, gave me the chance to lead the race and pull away.
“It was fair to give the position back, I don’t want to come across as a guy who’s not fair. Oscar has helped me many times, he drove a better race, got a better start. He deserved it, and it was the right thing to do.
“It hurts. I was in a position I shouldn’t have been in, which is the main thing. I don’t want it to take away from a great result for the team.” Should the driver ahead in the title race get priority? “We’ll see at the end of the year.”
Norris has been pretty even-handed there, but he looks very disappointed. He has now finished second 12 times, with just one grand prix win.
Here’s Oscar Piastri’s mum celebrating the result back in Melbourne, where it’s 1am.
— Nicole Piastri (@NicolePiastri) July 21, 2024
More from Oscar Piastri: “I got a good start, just enough to get into the corner first. Strong racing, but fair racing I thought. I think I did the big things right, and as a team we managed it pretty well.”
“I had a lot of trust in the team and Lando. He was faster than me at the end, but it was an undercut by him. I think it was fair to swap positions back at the end. We have a lot of trust and respect for each other.”
“We were free to race, as long as we finished one and two,” he adds. “I could understand Lando’s position [if he were unhappy], but I did everything right, and he ended up in that position but he undercut me.”
And here are the updated constructors’ standings, where McLaren have overtaken Ferrari. Which, I’m sure they’ll tell Norris, is The Real Quiz.
1) Red Bull 389pts
2) McLaren 338pts
3) Ferrari 322pts
4) Mercedes 241pts
5) Aston Martin 69pts
6) RB 33pts
7) Haas 27pts
8) Alpine 9pts
9) Williams 4pts
10) Sauber 0pts
Drivers' standings
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 265pts
2) Lando Norris (McLaren) 189pts
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 162pts
4) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 154pts
5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 149pts
6) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 125pts
7) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 124pts
8) George Russell (Mercedes) 116pts
9) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 45pts
10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 24pts
Verstappen is still awaiting the verdict on a potential penalty, so could drop some of the 10 points he won today.
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“I don’t pay to watch a race only to have someone who is not in the car decide which driver wins,” writes Tim. “McLaren have lost credibility.”
This was probably the best way out of a situation they created by bringing Norris in to pit first, but it feels like it might gnaw away at the team harmony they’ve built. The next team meeting will certainly be interesting.
There’s a clear divide between Sky’s commentary team – who appear to think Norris ultimately did the right thing by ceding the win to Piastri – and online, where people are baffled that Norris was told to give up title race points after his own team’s decisions put him in an unassailable lead.
“There’s an entire approach to racing, the team and drivers – none of us can go alone,” says McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. “We’re incredibly happy that our drivers are helping the team trajectory.”
He adds that no race driver would want to give up victory in Norris’ position, and “I would be extremely concerned if they did”. Nico Rosberg suggests the team weren’t firm enough with Norris initially. “I take your recommendation,” adds Stella with a smile.
Race result
1) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 25pts
2) Lando Norris (McLaren) 18pts
3) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 15pts
4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 12pts
5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 10pts
6) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 8pts
7) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 6pts
8) George Russell (Mercedes) 5pts*
9) Yuki Tsunoda (RB) 2pts
10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1pt
11) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
12) Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
13) Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
14) Alexander Albon (Williams)
15) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
16) Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
17) Logan Sargeant (Williams)
18) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
19) Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
DNF: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
*Extra point for fastest lap
Piastri adds that this is McLaren’s first one-two at a grand prix for “a long time”. Fun fact: the last one came at Monza in 2021, where Lando Norris came second to Daniel Ricciardo – the last Aussie driver to win an F1 race.
Oscar Piastri: “This is a dream … obviously a bit complicated at the end there! I’m so happy to be with McLaren, winning together after 18 months. Today, we had it under control completely.”
On Norris hanging on to the lead: “The longer you leave it, the more you get nervous. I think it was the right thing, I got myself in the right position. My pace wasn’t great, but it was all well executed by the team. They’ve given me a great car and I can’t thank them enough for that.”
Now, Lando Norris: “Amazing day for the team, which is the main thing. A good run by the team and by Oscar, he controlled the race and he deserved it today.”
Did he have any issues with being told to give the race lead back to Piastri? “The team asked me to do it, so I did it. For sure, maybe in the constructors, with two great drivers. It was our day, but things can change quickly.”
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These post-race interviews should be interesting. First up, Lewis Hamilton: “Big thanks to this amazing crowd, and congrats to McLaren. That’s my original family, so I’m happy for them.”
“We didn’t have their pace, or the pace or the Red Bulls. The battle [with Verstappen] was a bit hair-raising, but that’s racing. Really happy for Oscar, he had great pace today, really deserved the win.”
Lewis Hamilton comes home third, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fourth. Verstappen is fifth, but may yet be penalised for the collision with Hamilton late on.
Oscar Piastri wins the Hungarian Grand Prix!
Piastri crosses the line to win his maiden grand prix, in front of Lando Norris, who let his teammate overtake him after a prolonged wrangle over the team radio. It’s a McLaren one-two, and yet it feels like there will be problems behind the scenes after this.
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Lap 69 of 70: Norris is still going to try and win the place back, but Piastri has clean air ahead of him and looks set to close out victory here …
Lap 68 of 70: Norris lets Piastri past! Finally persuaded by the constant pleas over the team radio, Norris hands Piastri the race lead with two laps to go! Lewis Hamilton, now safe from Verstappen, is cruising towards third place.
Lap 67 of 70: There are just three laps to go. “Please do it now,” McLaren tell Norris. And going into the home straight, he’s slowing down …
Lap 65 of 70: “Ceding position is not racing. Champions are not borne of courtesy,” writes Doug Wilkinson. “Pedal down, Lando.”
Lap 64 of 70: Another plea from McLaren over the radio to Norris, as the team admit Piastri won’t catch him unless he slows up. “We’re trying to protect you,” they tell the race leader. More drama than your average soap opera out here today.
Lap 63 of 70: Verstappen spins off, and while he is able to rejoin, he’s down to fifth place. He has been in full “Mad Max” mode today, and his race engineer has had enough, calling that move on Hamilton “childish” on the team radio.
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Lap 62 of 70: Verstappen is back on Hamilton’s heels – but as he tries to overtake on the outside, he locks up and collides with the Mercedes!
Lap 61 of 70: McLaren are now telling Norris: “remember what we talk about in every team meeting.” Norris responds: “tell [Piastri] to catch up then”. I’ll be honest, I’m with Lando on this one – McLaren have made a mess of this, but I’m not sure why he should give up points here.
Lap 60 of 70: There’s an eerie quiet in the McLaren paddock, with Norris showing no sign of slowing up. He now leads Piastri by 4.7 seconds.
Lap 59 of 70: Verstappen gets beyond Leclerc to move up to fourth, and is just 1.6 seconds behind Hamilton.
“The second half of the season and we witness the end of Red Bull domination,” writes Nick Gibson. “Very difficult now for Verstappen to win another world championship; will he stay with them for two more years?”
I still think Verstappen will probably win the title (he leads Norris by 84 points), but he’s clearly not enjoying himself at the moment.
Lap 58 of 70: “I know you’ll do the right thing,” McLaren tell Norris as he continues to keep the gap ahead of Piastri, using up his tyres quicker than his team would like. I’m starting to wonder; Norris, who has more title-race points, now leads Piastri by four seconds.
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Lap 56 of 70: Norris is reminded that the plan is to let Piastri past him, an idea he’s not 100% on board with. He still leads his McLaren teammate by 3.4 seconds, with Hamilton a full nine seconds back in third.
Lap 54 of 70: Red Bull have a word with Verstappen, who has picked up the fastest lap but is pushing his new tyres a bit too hard. The defending champion responds in forthright fashion, continuing his theme for the day.
Lap 52 of 70: George Russell and Sergio Pérez have finally forced their way through the field, and now sit seventh and eighth. Here’s the top 10:
1) Norris 2) Piastri 3) Hamilton 4) Leclerc 5) Verstappen 6) Sainz 7) Russell 8) Pérez 9) Tsunoda 10) Alonso
Lap 51 of 70: If Piastri wants Norris to return the race lead, he’s going to have to catch him – and the gap is still 3.5 seconds. This is an intriguing moment in the McLaren renaissance; they could end up with a one-two and a pair of unhappy drivers.
Lap 50 of 70: Verstappen pits, a few laps later than he wanted, and returns to the race in fifth place. The top eight are all on medium tyres, apart from Lewis Hamilton on hard tyres.
Lap 48 of 70: Norris has been told to “restore the original order” and return the race lead to Piastri. Norris is at a flying pace, though – setting the fastest lap as his teammate wobbles briefly onto the gravel.
Lap 47 of 70: Piastri comes in, pits in 2.9 seconds, but returns to the track behind Norris. He’s been told not to “worry about Lando”, Sky tell us.
Lap 46 of 70: Norris comes in and switches to a scrubbed set of medium tyres. Piastri is told that the plan is for Norris to fend off Verstappen and secure the one-two, and that’s why he was called in first.
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Lap 44 of 70: Here’s the current top 10, with the top four all due to pit again shortly…
1) Piastri 2) Norris 3) Verstappen 4) Sainz 5) Hamilton 6) Leclerc 7) Perez 8) Russell 9) Stroll 10) Tsunoda
Lap 42 of 70: Verstappen sends another volley his team’s way after Hamilton undercuts him again. He’s not been in the best of moods today.
Lap 41 of 70: Someone in the TV studio has finally dug out a clip of Piastri running wide, as he tried to lap Ocon. Elsewhere, our first retirement of the race: Pierre Gasly, who started in the pit lane, returns there to end his involvement.
Lap 40 of 70: Hamilton, increasingly concerned about his tyres, cuts in to pit, with Leclerc joining him. The Mercedes man’s efforts in holding off Verstappen mean that Norris has built a near-10 second gap over that battle for third.
Lap 39 of 70: Piastri’s lead has settled at around 1.5 seconds – it seems that the cluster of back-markers may have cost him some time. Norris has been told that he is free to race his teammate, although perhaps only for the next 10 laps or so.
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Lap 38 of 70: Can Hamilton possibly hold on? He’s skittering into corners with Verstappen blocking out his mirrors – and Charles Leclerc is now just over a second behind the Dutchman.
Lap 36 of 70: Piastri’s lead over Norris is down to 1.5 seconds, but if the Aussie has an issue with his car, we’re not hearing about it yet. Behind the McLaren pair, Verstappen is buzzing around behind Hamilton again, waiting for his moment on this notoriously twisty circuit.
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Lap 35 of 70: Verstappen gets ahead of Hamilton but runs wide at the next corner, allowing his old rival to scoot back into third place. “It’s [effing] unbelievable,” is the Red Bull man’s verdict on his car’s performance on corners today.
Lap 34 of 70: Verstappen is in striking distance of Hamilton now, but the Mercedes man holds off a first overtake attempt. As for Piastri, word is he ran off-track at turn 11, and lost a chunk of time to Norris.
Lap 33 of 70: This is the fourth time Piastri has led a grand prix this season. Can he bring it home today? He’s managing his tyres well and keeping Norris at arm’s length – although the Briton has suddenly cut the gap to 2.5s…
Lap 31 of 70: Tsunoda pits, which means George Russell – now up to seventh – is the only driver yet to pit. Piastri is building his lead over teammate Norris, leading by 4.4 seconds.
Lap 30 of 70: Perez pits for the first time, switching to medium tyres and emerging in 15th place, just behind Bottas. Daniel Ricciardo drops to the back of the field after his second stop of the day.
Lap 28 of 70: Verstappen, his pace improving on fresh tyres, could be within range of Hamilton within three laps. Leclerc, who is more than seven seconds behind the Red Bull in fifth, picks up the fastest lap.
Lap 26 of 70: Piastri has just racked up the fastest lap, taking the honour away from Verstappen. The Australian leads Norris by 3.7s, with Hamilton 2.8s behind, and Verstappen 3.5s behind the Mercedes.
Lap 25 of 70: Leclerc gets back out ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who is up to sixth but yet to pit. Here’s the current top 10:
1) Piastri 2) Norris 3) Hamilton 4) Verstappen 5) Leclerc 6) Tsunoda 7) Sainz 8) Russell 9) Perez 10) Gasly
Lap 24 of 70: Leclerc comes into the pits, meaning Piastri reclaims his rightful place as the on-track leader. He leads Norris by a solid three seconds.
Lap 23 of 70: Ferrari’s race pace has been decent, but nobody is moving quite like Lewis Hamilton, who sets another fastest lap mark and is fourth, six seconds ahead of the labouring Verstappen.
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Lap 22 of 70: Verstappen pits, followed by Ferrari’s Sainz, which leaves Leclerc as the race leader. He’s discussing “Plan C” with the team, which may be a switch to a one-stop strategy.
Lap 21 of 70: Hamilton clocks another fastest lap, but is concerned about his tyres – “not as much grip”, he tells his Mercedes team. Russell and Perez are yet to change their hard tyres and could end up far from the top 10 once they do.
Lap 20 of 70: Piastri pits and emerges in front of teammate Norris – which means Verstappen is the race leader, but he is yet to pit. The same goes for the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz, currently second and third.
Lap 19 of 70: Verstappen complains that he can’t brake and is struggling with corners, all of which sounds less than ideal. As for Hamilton, he is back out on hard compound tyres and racks up the fastest lap of the race so far.
Lap 18 of 70: Hamilton is the first of the top six to pit, and is followed by Norris. Red Bull won’t immediately respond to that Mercedes undercut, opting to stay out for now.
Lap 16 of 70: A ponderous pit-stop from Stroll sees him return to the race in 16th place, behind teammate Alonso. In fourth, Hamilton is going well and is just over a second behind Verstappen.
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Lap 14 of 70: “Your race is with Verstappen,” McLaren tell Norris over the radio, which will be dispiriting news for the pole-sitter. He’s currently sat 3.5s behind Piastri, with about the same time advantage over the Red Bull.
Lap 13 of 70: Some intriguing battles in midfield, with Russell (and Perez) pushing for the top 10 but being held up by a strong drive from Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas. Lance Stroll, meanwhile, is still out on soft tyres in seventh place.
Lap 12 of 70: Here’s the top 10 as it stands.
1) Piastri 2) Norris 3) Verstappen 4) Hamilton 5) Leclerc 6) Sainz 7) Stroll 8) Tsunoda 9) Bottas 10) Russell
Lap 10 of 70: Piastri tells the team radio he feels comfortable with his race pace, now almost three seconds clear of Norris. McLaren ask him to try and manage his tyres on what is a sizzling day on the outskirts of Budapest.
Lap 8 of 70: Fernando Alonso, who started on softs, has also pitted, with teammate Lance Stroll set to follow. The top six all started on medium tyres, and the timing of two-stop strategies may be crucial.
Lap 7 of 70: Several of the stragglers in the field are pitting early for their first change of tyres. Russell and Pérez, both trying to move up the field quickly, are running hard tyres.
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Lap 6 of 70: Oscar Piastri leads Norris by 2.5 seconds, with a piping-hot Verstappen 1.5 secs behind in third. Lewis Hamilton is tucked in fourth place, ahead of the two Ferraris.
Lap 4 of 70: “So you can just run people off the track then?” is Verstappen’s view on the radio. But replays show that Norris was having to keep clear of Piastri on his inside, so had little option.
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Lap 3 of 70: The stewards are investigating, but Red Bull tell Verstappen he should give the place back on the track. The defending champion isn’t happy about it all, but allows Norris to pass.
Lap 2 of 70: Well, safe to say the Norris-Verstappen beef is back on. The McLaren man feels Verstappen gained an advantage by running wide; the Red Bull driver is saying he was forced off the track. As for Piastri, he’s got a 1.2sec lead on Verstappen …
Here we go!
Norris gets away at speed, but has Piastri and Verstappen either side of him into the first corner … the Red Bull goes wide, and it’s Piastri who takes the lead! Verstappen cuts back onto the track in second but Norris, on the team radio, says the Dutchman should give his place back …
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They’re off on the formation lap; with uncertainty over Norris’ throttle, teammate Oscar Piastri might be eyeing a maiden Grand Prix victory today. This is fertile ground for such results: Damon Hill, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button all got their first chequered flags here, as did Esteban Ocon after a chaotic race back in 2021.
Norris is now watching on from under an umbrella, brow furrowed – but the McLaren boffins are looking more positive that they’ve fixed the issue. Lights out in 10 minutes.
Lando Norris tells the team radio “something is definitely not right with the throttle.” As the Hungarian national anthem strikes up, McLaren mechanics are frantically trying to fix the issue.
Martin Brundle is out on the grid, where pole-sitter Lando Norris is reportedly experiencing throttle issues. Brunds grabs a chat with Christian Horner, who is standing a long way down the grid, next to 16th-placed Sergio Pérez.
“Horrible day for Checo yesterday, [but] the boys have done an amazing job. The best reward would be some points.” At the other end, can Verstappen overtake the pair of McLarens? “We’ll give it a go.”
And here are the constructors’ standings…
1) Red Bull 373pts
2) Ferrari 302pts
3) McLaren 295pts
4) Mercedes 221pts
5) Aston Martin 68pts
6) RB 31pts
7) Haas 27pts
8) Alpine 9pts
9) Williams 4pts
10) Sauber 0pts
Here’s how the drivers’ title race top 10 currently stands:
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 255pts
2) Lando Norris (McLaren) 171pts
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 150pts
4) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 146pts
5) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 124pts
6) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 118pts
7) George Russell (Mercedes) 111pts
8) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 110pts
9) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 45pts
10) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 23pts
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It was a dramatic qualifying session at the Hungaroring yesterday. George Russell limped out in Q1, Sergio Pérez and Yuki Tsunoda both crashed and Norris took pole at the end of a long, rain-hit day.
The grid
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
8) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
9) Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
11) Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
12) Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
13) Alexander Albon (Williams)
14) Logan Sargeant (Williams)
15) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
16) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
17) George Russell (Mercedes)
18) Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
19) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
20) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Updated
Preamble
Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s vice-like grip on Formula One has been loosened in recent months – but a standout title rival has yet to fully emerge. After Mercedes victories for George Russell in Austria and Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, today it is McLaren leading the fight against the empire, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locking out the front row of the grid ahead of the frustrated champion.
Saturday saw McLaren’s first qualifying one-two since 2012, but it’s no big surprise. The resurgent team have had the fastest car since Norris won in Miami; the problem has been converting that advantage into Sunday success. They have another chance to do so today but Verstappen – who has won the last two races here from second and 10th on the grid – will be eager to crush the rebellion.
