Norris Wins As Verstappen Stuns Hamilton In Hungarian GP

Lando Norris capitalised on the collision between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri to play the winning strategy and claim victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen stole the show with a breathtaking overtake on Lewis Hamilton. Below is the full race recap.

How did the Hungarian GP unfold?

Lando Norris made a clean getaway from pole, but it was Oscar Piastri who came out on top after the opening sequence of corners, sweeping past his McLaren teammate to take the race lead. Charles Leclerc, by contrast, got off the line poorly and immediately began losing ground.

Caught in the midfield battle through the first few corners, the Ferrari driver was shuffled backwards and also lost out to teammate Lewis Hamilton. By the end of the opening lap, Verstappen climbed to third ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc down to fifth and polesitter Kimi Antonelli relegated to sixth.

George Russell’s race got off to a nightmare start after bogging down off the line. The Mercedes driver was swallowed up by the pack and plummeted from sixth on the grid to 19th before the first lap was complete. The Briton quickly recovered, however, with the pace of his W17 allowing him to carve his way back through the field and break into the points before the opening round of pit stops.

Photo: Race Pictures

Verstappen struggled to match the pace of the two McLarens ahead and ended up holding up Hamilton behind him. However, the seven-time world champion was unable to find the pace or opportunity to make a move stick.

Hamilton attempted to undercut Verstappen on lap 14, but his strategy was briefly compromised after rejoining behind Lawson. Despite losing time tucked up behind the Racing Bulls driver, the Briton still managed to jump Verstappen once the Dutchman made his stop, putting himself in a virtual podium position.

Any advantage Ferrari gained through strategy disappeared almost immediately. After clearing Lawson, Verstappen closed rapidly on Hamilton and produced a breathtaking late-braking move into Turn 1, sweeping around the inside to reclaim third place. The Ferrari driver was caught completely by surprise and had no opportunity to fight back.

Following the pit stops, Norris closed right up to the back of Piastri and piled the pressure on his teammate. Despite remaining within striking distance for several laps, the Briton was unable to find a way through and his pursuit took a hit on lap 29, when he ran wide and briefly went off track, costing himself several valuable seconds.

Photo: Race Pictures

On lap 39, the race took a dramatic turn when Piastri made contact with Sainz while attempting to lap the Williams driver. A misunderstanding from the Spaniard, who failed to move aside in time, cost the McLaren driver valuable seconds and ultimately allowed Norris to make his pit stop and rejoin the race in the lead.

From there, Norris enjoyed a relatively straightforward final stint, carefully managing his pace all the way to the chequered flag. The Briton remained in complete control to secure victory, leading home teammate Piastri for a McLaren one-two finish.

A dramatic twist unfolded in the closing stages of the race as Piastri was forced to retire with a gearbox failure while comfortably running in second place. The Australian’s race came to an abrupt end on lap 56, dashing McLaren’s hopes of securing a dominant one-two finish.

Piastri’s retirement left Norris as McLaren’s sole contender at the front, with the Briton comfortably managing his advantage over Max Verstappen before crossing the line to secure victory.

Behind them, Antonelli pushed until the very end in an attempt to close the gap to Verstappen and snatch second place, but ultimately had to settle for third after falling just short of the Red Bull driver. Further back, Hamilton’s race ended on a sour note as the Ferrari driver was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.