A frenetic Hungarian Grand Prix saw Lando Norris’ first Grand Prix win as reigning world champion with Max Verstappen and championship leader Kimi Antonelli behind.
World Champion Takes It
Lando Norris led from pole position into Turn 1 before going slightly wide into Turn 2, allowing team mate Oscar Piastri into the race lead.
Although Piastri led for the first half of the race, it was clear his team mate in P2 had more pace, but was struggling with dirty air from the car ahead. After a pit stop left Piastri in traffic, Carlos Sainz made contact with the net race leader, slowing him down and allowing Norris to exit his pit stop ahead.
Although he didn’t lead the entire race, it was a dominant drive from Norris who was by far the quickest driver through all stints of the race and won with a nearly 15 second margin over Max Verstappen.
Piastri’s Bad Luck Continues
Despite leading the first half of the race, Piastri couldn’t effectively pull away from his team mate in P2 and was under constant pressure for the lead. Contact while trying to lap Carlos Sainz marked the beginning of the end for his race as he was then overcut by Norris.
A furious Piastri continued on in P3 behind Antonelli, who was yet to stop, but was far from catching being a second slower than his team mate. Piastri’s run of terrible luck continued on Lap 56 as his McLaren halted to a stop at the exit of Turn 3 with a gearbox issue.
Mercedes’ Struggles
George Russell suffered anti-stall as the lights went out leaving him down in P18 from P6, he hardly moved off the line. This follows a first lap DNF at last week’s Belgian Grand Prix and can be added to the long list of issues he’s had in his championship challenge this season. He pulled off a decent recovery drive as he quickly made his way back up to P7 but couldn’t compete with the front runners towards the end of the race.
Kimi Antonelli did not seem to have his usual blistering pace in this race as he went long in the first stint to pull off a two stop strategy. This shot him up the field as he led the race momentarily before being overtaken by Norris and dropping to P3 after his second stop. From there he spent the end of the race fighting off Lewis Hamilton’s advances and managed to keep the final podium spot.
The Mercedes we’ve seen all season didn’t seem to show up today. They somewhat struggled throughout qualifying and the race and were not able to cut their way through the field the way we’ve seen time and time again this season.
Quiet Day for Ferrari
Ferrari had hopes of the race lead as they both started on the used soft tyres but ended up with Hamilton in P4 and Leclerc in P5 after the first lap.
It was a fighting race for Hamilton as he had an exhilarating battle with Max Verstappen for P3 lap after lap before the pit stops. His pace then seemed to drop off as he lost the podium place after his first pit stop and he had a quiet middle stint before the Virtual Safety Car from Piastri’s stopped McLaren. This allowed him to pit for softs which gave him the grip to fight with Antonelli for P3.
Unfortunately Hamilton was struck with yet another 5 second penalty this season, this time for speeding in the pit lane. This effectively ended his fight with Antonelli and dropped him to finish P5 behind his team mate.
Leclerc had a very quiet race as he fell to P5 on the first lap and couldn’t seem to find any pace to fight the cars ahead. He spent the middle stint tucked up behind his team mate but fell just under 5 seconds behind towards the end of the race as he reported the car did not feel right on the radio.
Leclerc was the only driver to benefit from his team mate’s penalty which bumped him up to a P4 finish.
The Midfield
It was the best race of the season for Nico Hulkenberg as he came home P9 after a fight with the Racing Bulls at the end of the race. This result brings home his first points of the season as his team mate, Gabriel Bortoleto, just missed out in P11.
The updated Aston Martin didn’t seem to be quite as ground-breaking as some of us may have hoped. It was a stronger weekend for the team as they came home P13 and P14 with Stroll leading Alonso.
Despite no points for the team this weekend, it is a step in the right direction as this marks their second best result of the season. We could see this upgrade give them hope of fighting for points more often in the future.
It was another day of woe for the newcomers, as Cadillac saw Valtteri Bottas retire on Lap 15 reporting smoke in the cockpit. Sergio Perez joined him on Lap 51 as his suspension broke into Turn 4.
Image Credit: Formula One on X