Brown: Piastri vs Norris is going to be a coin toss every weekend

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Piastri leads Norris by 16 points in the standings following a dominant win in Belgium. But Saturday’s qualifying session at the Hungaroring brought a surprise twist as Charles Leclerc stunned the favourites by taking pole position for Ferrari, denying McLaren another front-row lockout.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 which of his two drivers has the upper hand heading into Sunday, Brown said: “They both do because they're winning a lot and getting one-twos. I think Oscar was a little disappointed with qualifying in Belgium. Lando was very happy. I'm sure he'll be a little bummed that he didn't win today, but it's coming off of two wins. I think it's going to be a coin toss every weekend.”

Normally, Brown's cars tend to hog the top row of the grid these days, but today at Hungaroring, the McLaren duo were ambushed by Charles Leclerc, who put his Ferrari on pole against all the odds. Piastri will start from P2 with Norris lining up P3 on the grid.

Despite taking second on the grid, Piastri was visibly caught off guard by Leclerc’s pace in qualifying: “I think the wind changed a lot. It always sounds so pathetic blaming things on the wind,. It did a 180 from Q2 to Q3 and meant a lot of the corners felt completely different. It was difficult to judge in those conditions and maybe not the best execution. I was surprised we couldn't go quicker than that."

“Second is still a decent spot to start so we'll see what we can do," said Piastri and pointed out, "Charles has been quick all weekend and this morning he was closer than we expected. Things just changed a little bit. He did a very good job and well done to him. I wasn't expecting to be second to a Ferrari this weekend. It's going to be a fun race tomorrow with a bit more involved.

Norris, who will start third, echoed Piastri’s comments on the changing conditions: “From how our form is, then of course it's disappointing, but I think Charles did a good job on the last lap. He probably risked a little bit more in these conditions."

McLaren team principal summed up his team's Qualifying: “Having seen the performance of the car in practice and in Q1 and Q2 we were certainly trying to lock out the front row of the grid. But today the conditions were very weird and very dependent on the wind.

"We paid a bit of a price. I think our drivers may have been a bit cautious because you never knew what grip you’d find so we went four tenths slower while Leclerc went faster. He deserved the pole position," conceded Stella.

The Englishman continued: "The wind changed a lot and it really seemed to punish us in a bigger way it seems. Not too many complaints. We thought we both did some good laps at the end, and we were just slow. So nothing to complain of, but Charles did a good job.

“It’s a long lap with many corners. It’s tricky, but in Q2, we showed how quick we can go, and our advantage. But as soon as the wind changed, everything went away and the last sector became even trickier again.”

Asked whether his focus is on winning or simply beating his teammate, Norris was clear: “Both. I want to go forward, I want to win. And if I can do that, then I’ll get points. I think it’s going to be an exciting race. I would expect us to have a bit more pace than Charles, so I’m looking forward to it.”

McLaren head into Sunday’s race as the team to beat on long-run pace, but with Leclerc on pole and the internal rivalry intensifying, the Hungarian Grand Prix could prove pivotal in shaping the direction of the championship fight.

Nevertheless, in the title fight between Norris and Piastri, their boss Brown is set to be proved right: this one is looking like a "coin toss" decider.