Lando Norris fended off teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday and maintain McLaren’s relentless march through the season. Mercedes’ George Russell took third as McLaren celebrated their 200th F1 win over half a century since their first and fourth consecutive 1-2 this year. Norris, on a one-stop strategy, held off a charging Piastri on fresher tyres to take the chequered flag by only seven tenths of a second. Norris moved to within nine points of Piastri in the drivers’ championship ahead of F1’s mid-season break.
“I’m dead, it was tough!” said Norris.
“I wasn’t planning the one-stop strategy.
“It was tough in the final stint with Oscar catching I was pushing flat out you know so my voice has gone a little bit.
“It feels good and rewarding a little more because of that but a good result today.”
“I pushed as hard as I could, looking forward to a few weeks off,” said Piastri.
“I saw Lando going for a one (stop) so I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is easier said then done around here” added the Australian about a circuit dubbed ‘Monaco without the walls’ for the lack of overtaking opportunities.
“Everyone’s going to sleep well tonight, great way to go into the summer break. The drivers were awesome,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
Polesitter Charles Leclerc was furious with his Ferrari team’s strategy as he came in fourth leaving the Scuderia still waiting for their first win of the season.
Fernando Alonso, nursing a bad back, was right in the thick of things to finish fifth for Aston Martin, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Lance Stroll in the other Aston, and Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls).
Max Verstappen, in his 200th drive for Red Bull, had to settle for ninth with Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top 10 as the man he replaced at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, could only manage 12th in the second Ferrari.
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