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Laurence Edmondson
Budapest, Hungary – Lando Norris narrowly beat McLaren teammate Oscar Plastri to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix following a titanic battle between the championship rivals in the closing laps.
The race ended in a showdown between the McLaren drivers on Lap 69 of 70, with Piastri closing on Norris on the pit straight and narrowly missing his teammate as he attempted to pass under braking at Turn 1 and locked a tire.
The tight finish came about after McLaren put the two drivers on different strategies, with Norris — who dropped to fifth on the opening lap — making a one-stop strategy work in his favor while Piastri, who was second on the opening lap, was put on a two-stop.
With the two drivers split on strategy, Piastri had fresher tires in the closing stages and narrowed a 10-second gap to a matter of centimeters in the final 20 laps.
The race hinged on a move by Piastri on the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 69 that saw the Australian narrowly avoid a collision and Norris retain the lead.
As McLaren took their 200th F1 victory, Norris is now nine points behind his teammate in the championship ahead of Formula 1’s summer break.
“I’m dead. I’m dead. It was tough,” Norris said afterward. “We weren’t really planning on the one-stop but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things.
“The final stint with Oscar catching I was pushing flat out … [it was] rewarding even more because of that. The perfect result today.”
Piastri said: “I pushed as hard as I could. After I saw Lando going for a one-stop, I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is much easier said than done around here.
“It was a gamble either way. Today, unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of it.
“The team did a great job, the car came alive in the second half of the race.”
The battle between the McLaren drivers had been complicated by the presence of Charles Leclerc starting from pole position, but the Ferrari driver faded in the final stint of the race and finished fourth behind George Russell in third.
Leclerc led Piastri through Turn 1 following a clean start as Norris, who had looked to pass Piastri on the inside, fell to fifth place in the opening corners.
Norris set about recovering positions in the early phase of the race as McLaren’s strategists put their focus on Piastri undercutting Leclerc for the lead by pitting the championship leader on Lap 18.
The Italian team reacted by pitting their driver a lap later and managed to keep Leclerc ahead of Piastri when the Ferrari reemerged on track.
Norris stayed out on track and soon committed to a one-stop strategy, meaning he effectively took the lead of the race by making one fewer stop.
Norris’ sole pit stop came on Lap 30, and he emerged close enough behind the battle between Leclerc and Piastri to retake the lead when Leclerc made his second stop on Lap 40 and Piastri made his on Lap 45.
Piastri was still running third after his second stop, but as Leclerc’s pace faded the McLaren driver passed the Ferrari for second place on Lap 51 and started his pursuit of Norris.
After closing the gap lap by lap, Piastri was one second off Norris as the lead McLaren hit lapped traffic on Lap 65.
The traffic seemed to work in Norris’ favor, allowing him use of the DRS overtaking aid to defend from his teammate.
With three laps to go, the two McLarens emerged from the traffic, putting them in a straight fight for victory.
Piastri came closest with his move on Lap 69, but ultimately just fell short of making it stick.
Leclerc lost third place to Russell on Lap 63 at Turn 1 and squeezed the Mercedes to the inside of the track.
The Ferrari driver, who was clearly frustrated by his lack of performance in the final stint, was penalized five seconds for cutting across on Russell but still finished fourth.
Fernando Alonso secured fifth place for Aston Martin ahead of another impressive performance by Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in sixth.
Lance Stroll took seventh in the second Aston Martin ahead of Liam Lawson in eighth and Max Verstappen in ninth, who rounded off a disappointing weekend for Red Bull.
Andrea Some Antonelli secured the final point on offer for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton starting and finishing the race in 12th place for Ferrari.
The next round of the F1 championship will take place in the Netherlands on Aug. 31.
