It was a fantastic day for McLaren around the Hungaroring, in Budapest, as Oscar Piastri took his first victory in Formula 1.
It was the teams first 1-2 since the Italian GP in 2021 with Norris in 2nd.
However, tensions emerged in both the McLaren and Red Bull garage over their respective radio messages.
In particular, from Lando Norris’s engineer, who accused the driver of not being a team player, before he made way for his teammate.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Lando Norris got away well, but so did Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen behind him.
Verstappen tried to go around the outside but ran wide, while Piastri got past his team-mate to take the lead.
The Australian has een impressie since he made the step up to F1 and looked like a seasoned race winner out in front.
The McLaren’s were comfortably the quickest car which left the likes of Hamilton and Verstappen fighting behind.
Verstappen has a tendency to come across like a child who has lost his favourite toy when he’s not winning.
Today was one of these days and you could here the exhaustion in the voice of Gianpiero Lambiase by the end of the race.
Things went from bad to worse in the closing stages for Max. As he tried a move up the inside of Hamilton into Turn 1.
The Dutchman carried too much speed and the resulting collision sent the rear of the Red Bull into the air.
It dropped him down to 5th where he would finish the race. Only two places ahead of his teammate who engineered another great recover drive.
It must be so frustrating for the Red Bull bosses. Checo hasn’t become a bad drier overnight – the guy just can’t hook a qualifying session up.
He and the team will be praying for both drivers to be in Q3 in Belgium.
It was another weekend of anonymity for the scarlet Ferrari’s. 4th and 6th for Leclerc and Sainz is hardly a bad result.
However the car looks a million miles away from a race victory.
Additionally, they lost 2nd place in the Constructors Championship to McLaren who have cemented themselves as Red Bull’s challenger.
Fresh from his victory in Silverstone, Hamilton impressed again getting the most out of the car.
He’ll be happy with a podium considering the Mercedes didn’t have as much pace in Budapest.
Russell – similarly to Perez – produced a great recover drive after an uncharacteristic mistake in qualifying.
8th place means he takes some points, but Russell will need to get back to his best after a wcrappy few races.
He’s also dropped behind Hamilton in the championship.
Tsunoda and Stroll took the final points positions. An encouraging race for both drivers as they look to cement their positions in their respective teams.
Stroll has shown some fight in recent weeks as he tries to justify his position. Yuki has looked like the team number 1 for most of the season.
He has to be in the running for Perez’s seat with his current form.
Out in front though the McLaren’s were in a league of their own and it was just a question about who will win.
You have to feel for Lando. He was explicitly told on the radio that keeping 1st would be detrimental to the team.
Although it seemed like he had the pace – even if Piastri’s tyres were much fresher.
Still, it says a lot about his character that he did eventually led Piastri through to take his first victory in F1.
He joins the likes of Alan Jones, Jack Brabham and his own manager, Mark Webber as another Australian to win in Formula One.
I’m certain it won’t be his last.
Norris and McLaren now look like the closest competition for Max and Red Bull in 2024.
The Milton Keynes team will have to improve and get back to their best as their rivals close in.
There’s one more race before the summer break at the historic Spa-Franchorchamps track in Belgium.
Photo credit: Bryn Lennon/Formula 1/Getty Images