Budapest: Lando Norris held off a thrilling late-race challenge for the lead from McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, the Briton making an alternative strategy work in his favour to take victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday — registering his fifth win of the season and narrowing the gap between the top two in the standings.
Polesitter Charles Leclerc 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, things started to change a bit as the race progressed, different strategies played out among 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 surging Piastri set about chasing down Norris for the top spot – leading to a gripping finish as the Australian was hot on the tail of his teammate 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 the summer break.
With this win, Norris moved up to 275 points, narrowing the gap on table-topper Piastri, who now has 284 points. Max Verstappen is way behind at 187 for the third position in the Drivers’ Standings.
George Russell took third for Mercedes, having overtaken a struggling Leclerc to claim the final spot on the podium. Leclerc had to settle for fourth on a disappointing day for the Monegasque, who also received a five-second time penalty for driving erratically during his battle with Russell.
Fernando Alonso put in a solid drive to claim fifth for Aston Martin, marking a valuable double points finish for the squad with Lance Stroll not far behind in seventh. Between them was Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, marking another eye-catching performance from the rookie.
Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls, followed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who had a tricky day in ninth. The Dutchman faced an investigation after the race for an incident with Lewis Hamilton that saw the Ferrari man go wide, but no further action was taken, and he kept his P9 finish.
Kimi Antonelli took the final point on offer in P10 for Mercedes, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar just missed out in P11. Also outside of the top 10 was Hamilton, who had to settle for P12 on a tough weekend for the seven-time World Champion.
Nico Hulkenberg placed in 13th for Kick Sauber, followed by the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon in 14th and 15th, respectively. Esteban Ocon was the sole Haas to finish the race in 16th, with Yuki Tsunoda behind in 17th for Red Bull.
It was a difficult day for Alpine, as Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly completed the order down in P18 and P19, the latter having received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sainz.
Ollie Bearman, meanwhile, failed to make the chequered flag, with damage to his Haas forcing him to retire from the running.
(IANS)
