Norris Makes One-Stop Strategy Work In Hungary

Lando Norris kisses the trophy after winning Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. (McLaren photo)

BUDAPEST, Hungary – In a highlight of McLaren’s 60th Formula One season, Lando Norris earned the team’s 200th World Championship victory Sunday in a dramatic finish to the Lenovo Hungarian Grand Prix.

After switching to a one-stop strategy midway through the 70-lap race at the Hungaroring, Norris held off fast-closing teammate Oscar Piastri in the final laps to secure his ninth career F-1 win.

Though Piastri had much fresher Pirelli tires than Norris at the end, the 25-year-old Briton kept his Australian rival at bay by .698 seconds, nursing his car through a 39-lap stint after his lone pit stop.

The end result was the fourth straight one-two finish for McLaren, the first time the team has accomplished that feat since 1988, during the legendary era of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

“We weren’t really planning on the one-stop at the beginning, but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things. It was tough,” said Norris after his fifth win of the year. “The final stint with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat-out.

“My voice has gone a little bit! But rewarding even more [to win] because of that – the perfect result today.”

Sunday also provided a measure of redemption in Hungary for Norris, who lost a win at the venue one year ago to Piastri due to McLaren team orders after a strategy snafu initially swapped their positions.

But Sunday was a dominant day for Norris, who led a race-high 36 laps despite the fact that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from pole position and controlled the first 19 circuits around the 2.722-mile course.

After his first pit stop on lap 20, however, Leclerc began complaining of handling issues with his race car and began losing chunks of time to the McLaren duo through the midsection of the event.

Piastri had attempted to undercut Leclerc during the first pit stop – as both of them committed to the two-stop plan – but later fought past Leclerc into second on the outside of turn one with 20 to go.

Lando Norris (4) leads Oscar Piastri during the Hungarian Grand Prix. (McLaren photo)

From there, Piastri carved a 12-second deficit down into mere car lengths by the time the race reached five laps left, setting out to try and lunge past Norris each time they came down the main straightaway.

But Piastri couldn’t get close enough, even on the penultimate lap when he nearly got a front wing to Norris’ right-rear tire before locking up the brakes to prevent a collision.

Norris was unmatched after that, leading Piastri home, while Mercedes’ George Russell took the final step on the podium after passing Leclerc with nine to go in a heated scrap.

Leclerc’s descent ended in a fourth-place finish, just ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who put in a consistent drive all race for his first top five since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March of 2024.

Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was a career-best sixth for Kick Sauber, with the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and Kimi Antonelli in the sister Mercedes entry capping the point scorers in the top 10.

Verstappen’s ninth-place result was his third finish outside the top five in his last six starts. It’s the first time he’s had such a stretch in F-1 competition since the 2021 season – prior to his first driver’s title.

Speaking of points, Norris trimmed Piastri’s championship lead down to nine entering the annual month-long summer break. McLaren grew its constructor’s advantage to a mammoth 299 markers.

F-1 teams get three full weeks off to recharge before the final 10-race stretch kicks off Aug. 31 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort. Norris is the defending event winner.