Lando Norris hails "the best pace I’ve ever had" after dominant victory for McLaren in Hungary

The reigning World Champion recovered from losing the lead at the start to teammate Oscar Piastri, using a long second stint and superior tyre management to regain control at the Hungaroring. Norris eventually crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, securing his 12th Formula 1 victory and a second consecutive Hungarian Grand Prix triumph.

However, McLaren’s likely one-two finish disappeared when Piastri stopped with a mechanical failure 14 laps from the chequered flag. The Australian had already survived contact with errant Williams driver Carlos Sainz while lapping traffic.

Piastri’s retirement triggered a Virtual Safety Car. Norris and both Ferrari drivers pitted, while Verstappen and Antonelli remained on track and moved into the remaining podium positions.

Antonelli’s third place extended his Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship lead to 50 points over Lewis Hamilton. George Russell remains third, 59 points behind his Mercedes teammate, after recovering to finish seventh following a disastrous opening lap.

Hamilton finished fourth on the road but received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. That dropped him behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in the final classification.

Norris started from pole position but immediately struggled for rear grip, allowing Piastri to attack from third on the grid. The Australian completed the move during the opening sequence of corners, leaving Norris chasing the sister McLaren during the first stint.

Speaking in parc fermé, Norris admitted he could not explain why the car had been so unstable at the start: “I don’t know what happened, to be honest. I just kept losing the rear, I had like three or four big snaps. It felt horrible. Oscar did a good job to get the cut back and get back past. I think I was just a bit wide in the dirt, and game over for the first lap.”

Rather than allowing Piastri to escape, Norris remained within striking distance and placed his teammate under sustained pressure. He said: “I was pushing like hell to try to force him into a mistake or something. My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident, so a great race.”

Piastri surrendered the lead when he made his first pit stop on Lap 25. Norris stayed out longer, extending his stint and taking advantage of McLaren’s improved pace and tyre life.

The decisive moment arrived later when Piastri collided with Sainz while attempting to lap the Williams. The contact cost the Australian valuable time and helped Norris complete his second stop without losing the lead.

Norris continued: "To get it back in terms of going long, which is certainly not what I was expecting, but the pace was so good I could always extend the stints, and fresh tyres then always won me the race. I’m just happy to be back and see the number one again.”

It was Norris’s first victory as the reigning Formula 1 World Champion and his first win of a difficult campaign for McLaren, the reigning World Champions.

McLaren arrived in Hungary with a substantial upgrade package after failing to win any of the opening ten races. The Hungaroring’s slow and medium-speed corners were expected to suit the team’s package.

However, Norris believes the performance demonstrated that McLaren can challenge for victories elsewhere: “I want to believe so. Considering how good it felt today, I certainly want to believe that we can continue it. There’s going to be moments where we’re going to struggle more and moments that might be even better.

“We know this track is a good one for us, probably one of my best suited track of the year. This is maybe as good as it can look for now, but I certainly believe we can still win races. I knew it was coming. The team have put so much work in to make a car that can finally win again. It’s nice to be able to do it for them," added the Briton.

The result provided McLaren with confirmation that its latest development programme has produced a genuine step forward.

Norris had already demonstrated the car’s potential by beating Hamilton to pole position by just 0.012 seconds. His advantage during the race appeared significantly more comfortable once he regained clean air.

Piastri’s afternoon began perfectly when he swept into the lead, but his challenge unravelled through tyre struggles, contact and eventual mechanical failure: “It was definitely the highlight of my race and it went pretty downhill from there.

“A lot of things to unpack. Firstly, the pace on the hard tyres was nowhere, and then obviously getting taken out by a backmarker is never really one of the things you think can go wrong. But I was proven wrong. Then obviously the gearbox, so not the easiest of days.”

Piastri initially expressed frustration over team radio when Norris emerged ahead following the second round of stops. He later accepted McLaren had made the correct strategic decision and explained that his reaction was mainly directed at the incident with Sainz.

The Australian explained: “I was crashed into by Carlos and, in the moment, I was hoping maybe they would not pit Lando because of that incident to at least give me the chance to stay in the lead but I think that’s not very reasonable.

“I was just very upset in the moment about what had happened. I think the timing of my pit stop was fine, we wanted to beat Lewis and that’s what we needed to do to," added Piastri.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described the weekend as evidence that the team’s development work had finally delivered a race-winning car: “Great to see the car being competitive for a pole position and being competitive for a victory. Great to see that hard work has been rewarded.

“Lando was in condition to squeeze every single millisecond off the car, which was good enough yesterday for the pole position — which was 12 milliseconds — but today, if anything, the pace was even more encouraging.

“As soon as Lando was in the lead he proved he had a decent margin. So great news there but obviously quite a lot of work to do for reliability," concluded the McLaren team principal.

Piastri’s retirement ensured McLaren left Hungary with mixed emotions, but Norris’s pace offered the clearest evidence yet that the champions are returning to contention. For Norris, the number one was finally back where he wanted it: the top step of the podium!