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Dubai Eye
04-08-2025
- Dubai Eye
Norris cuts Piastri's lead with Hungary win
Lando Norris held off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and slash the Australian's Formula One lead to nine points after completing more than half the race on a single set of hard tyres. Australian Piastri made two stops to Norris's one and finished a mere 0.6 of a second behind the Briton while George Russell took a distant third to complete the podium for Mercedes. The race at the Hungaroring outside Budapest was the last before Formula One's August break.
Gulf Today
04-08-2025
- Gulf Today
Norris wins in Hungary to trim Piastri lead as McLaren reel off another 1-2
Lando Norris trimmed McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri's lead in the drivers' world championship to just nine points on Sunday when he switched tactics to lead him home by just 0.698 seconds in a thrilling finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 25-year-old Briton, who moved from a two-stop strategy to one stop, held off series leader Piastri, on fresher tyres, over the closing laps of a strategic contest to claim McLaren's 200th victory and their record 13th win in Hungary. It was Norris's first win at the Hungaroring in the event's 40th race, avenging his 'team orders' defeat in 2024 when Piastri claimed his maiden success, his fifth victory of the season and the ninth of his career. The dominant McLaren pair finished 22 seconds clear of third-placed George Russell of Mercedes with pole sitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari fourth, grumbling at the Italian team's poor planning after he slipped out of the leading position. 'I wasn't planning to do a one-stop,' said Norris. McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates on the podium with a trophy after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix in Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary. Reuters 'But it was the only option to get back into things and it was tough. Oscar was pushing all the way.' Piastri said he had done all he could to triumph. 'It was great racing,' he said. 'Lando did a great job.' His drive brought McLaren their fourth consecutive 1-2 finish. Two-time champion Fernando Alonso came home fifth for Aston Martin ahead of Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin, rookie Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls and frustrated four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull. Mercedes' rookie Kimi Antonelli was 10th ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton 12th in the second Ferrari, 24 hours after declaring himself undeserving of their race seat. Heavy overnight rain had 're-set' the track on a breezy afternoon in front of a big crowd at the Hungaroring. The track temperature was only 31 degrees, encouraging thoughts of a one-stop race as tyre-wear decreased and Leclerc controlled the pace ahead of Piastri, Russell and Norris. Piastri pitted on lap 18, seeking an undercut. He returned in fifth as Leclerc responded to stay ahead. Norris inherited the lead and had a 10-second advantage, as the Monegasque regained second, with Piastri third. Lando Norris celebrates after winning the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix race. AP He then chose to stay out until pitting, in just 1.9 seconds, for hards on lap 31, rejoining fourth and facing a long run home. At the front, Leclerc responded to an apparent 'bluff' call from McLaren and pitted, falling to fourth and gifting Piastri the lead ahead of a rapid Norris as the race dissolved into a strategy and tyre-management contest between the two McLarens. Norris revelled in his delayed one-stop tactic as Piastri made a second pit on lap 45, the Briton leading with a frustrated Ferrari second, Leclerc blaming his team for bungling his plan before being passed by Piastri around Turn One on lap 51. This left Norris, on ageing tyres, leading his team-mate in a classic scrap to the flag, negotiating traffic and separated by half a second over the final laps. On lap 68, the Australian went close to passing in Turn One and on lap 69, he locked up. 'Remember how we go racing,' Piastri's engineer Tom Stallard reminded him. For Leclerc, soon left a distant third by the two McLarens, it was another pole wasted - the 15th time he failed to convert pole into a win in 16 attempts - and it grew worse when Russell, after two attempts, passed him on lap 63. Agence France-Presse
The National
04-08-2025
- The National
Lewis Hamilton slumps while Lando Norris thrives: Hungarian Grand Prix talking points
The Hungaroring has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for F1 legend Lewis Hamilton. The British driver has tasted victory a record eight times in Hungary but his latest trip to the circuit will probably go down as one of his worst. Hamilton became the story of the weekend when he described himself as 'absolutely useless' and called for his own team to replace him after a second session exit in qualifying. Meanwhile, Lando Norris trumped his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to close the gap at the top of the drivers' championship. Here are the key stories from the last race before F1's short summer hiatus. Downcast Hamilton needs a break A dejected Hamilton said he will 'hopefully' return for Formula One's next race – after he cryptically claimed 'there is a lot going on in the background that is not great' following the Hungarian Grand Prix. A day after his qualifying woes, Hamilton, the seven-time world champion started 12th and finished in the same position at the Hungaroring, a lap behind winner Norris. Charles Leclerc was fourth in the other Ferrari. Fronting up to TV cameras after the conclusion of the 14th race of his Ferrari career which has so far failed to live up to its preseason hype, Hamilton was asked to reflect on his post-qualifying comments. 'When you have a feeling, you have a feeling,' he told Sky Sports. 'There is a lot going on in the background that is not great.' Asked if he had fallen out of love with racing, Hamilton replied: 'No, I still love the team.' Hamilton then headed for his session with the print media. Quizzed on how he felt a day on from being eliminated in Q2 – a performance made all the more harrowing after Leclerc took pole position, he replied: 'Same.' Put to him that his remarks suggesting that Ferrari 'need a new driver' would worry his fans, the British driver again replied: 'Same.' Asked if he had anything else to say other than 'the same', Hamilton said: 'I have got nothing else to say.' The sport now breaks for three weeks for its midseason shutdown. The next race takes place in the Netherlands on August 31. 'Very much so,' said Hamilton, who was then asked if he was looking forward to the summer break. Quizzed as to whether he will definitely be driving at the next round in Zandvoort, Hamilton replied: 'I look forward to coming back … Hopefully I will be back, yeah.' There were other worrying signs from the 40-year-old. Hamilton stood largely on his own for the drivers' parade, which takes place before every race, and was later accompanied by Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli. By the end of the first lap, he dropped behind Carlos Sainz and Antonelli and was 14th. At the end of the eighth lap, he was 20 seconds behind Leclerc, then leading, in the other Ferrari, and at the end of lap 14 he trailed his teammate by half a minute. When he left the pits on lap 43 for his sole change of tyres, Hamilton was a lap down on the leaders. He fought back past Alpine's Pierre Gasly and then Sainz to cross the line in 12th. However, he is 42 points behind Leclerc, has been out-qualified by his teammate at 10 of the 14 rounds, beaten him in only two races, at Imola and Silverstone, and is still awaiting his first podium in Ferrari colours. Hamilton's boss Fred Vasseur said: 'I don't need to motivate him. He is frustrated but not demotivated, that is a different story. I can perfectly understand the situation.' McLaren close to perfection McLaren boss Zak Brown hailed the team's 200th Formula One win, with Norris ahead of championship leader Piastri in a one-two finish, as close to perfect. The win was Norris's fifth of the season and McLaren's seventh one-two in 14 races as well as the team's fourth in a row. 'You're never perfect in a race but I think that was as close to perfect as you can get,' Brown told Sky Sports. 'The drivers were awesome, pit stops amazing, strategy was great to get Lando up there, Oscar drove brilliantly. I couldn't be prouder of this racing team.' Norris and Piastri crossed the finish line 0.698 of a second apart, with the pair almost touching when the Australian tried to make a move on his British teammate on the penultimate lap and locked up. Team principal Andrea Stella said it had been 'firm' racing but also fair between rivals now separated by just nine points. 'We had a bit of a lock-up with Oscar but at the same time Lando left some space because he knew that Oscar would have been at the limit of braking,' said the Italian. Despite celebrating his ninth career win, Norris said he needed to improve because he was making life too hard for himself. He won from third on the grid, after dropping to fifth at the start and then making a one-stop strategy work with Piastri on two. 'It's going to be a good and tough battle probably until the end. It takes a lot out of you trying to focus so much for every single session, race, everything. So, it's going be a long second half of the season, I'm sure,' he said. McLaren are only the second team to chalk up 200 Grand Prix wins since the world championship started in 1950. Ferrari, yet to win this season, are on 248. Mercedes, next after McLaren, have 130. Russell's timely podium The future of Mercedes driver George Russell appears to finally be heading towards some clarity. With the team's interest in Max Verstappen having fizzled out, boss Toto Wolf said this week that he is hoping to combine Russell and Antonelli again next season. Russell is quietly having his best start to a season yet with his third place in Hungary the latest in a string of podiums. The Englishman is yet to sign a contract extension, but team boss Toto Wolf said: 'Definitely, he's staying. The team is strong. He has shown it today again.'
