Written by Owen Bradley
Oscar Piastri Won the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race which tested the drivers due to its' tight and technical areas of the circuit, with tyre conservation also a major factor.
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen would go three-wide into the first corner, with Norris squeezing his teammate over on the right side of the circuit, and Verstappen taking the racing line.
Piastri would naturally run slightly wider after the apex of Turn 1, pushing Norris out wide who would then in turn, push Verstappen off the circuit. Verstappen re-joined ahead of Norris, with Piastri leading the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris would claim that Verstappen needed to give the place back, as Verstappen said that he was pushed off the circuit. Eventually, the FIA would take note of the incident, but Red Bull would ask the reigning World Champion to cease position to Norris, and re-overtake him again.
Both Aston Martin's were doing the alternate strategy, starting on the Soft compound tyres, whereas the leaders started on the Mediums.
The McLaren's would both pit onto the Hard tyres, as Lewis Hamilton had also pitted a couple of laps before, making the undercut strategy work incredibly well, overtaking Verstappen with the pit strategy.
Max Verstappen and both of the Ferrari's would stay out a few laps longer than Hamilton and the McLaren's, losing a lot of time as many thought they may be attempting a one-stop strategy.
On Lap 23 of 70, all of the leaders had pitted for the Hard tyres, with varying degrees of tyre conservation for each car.
Piastri opened up a lead of well over three second to teammate Norris, with Hamilton a further few seconds down the road on his fellow Brit. Verstappen was attempting to catch up to Hamilton, and was taking a lot of time out of his former rival, closing to the rear diffuser of the Mercedes at the half distance mark.
However, Piastri would run off the circuit at Turn 11, almost losing the car and certainly losing multiple seconds to Norris. The young Australian would still lead the Grand Prix, but the gap had come right down from nearly 5 seconds, to just 1.5 seconds.
Sergio Perez and George Russell started on the Hard compound tyre, the opposite end of the alternate strategy, with Perez pitting on Lap 29 for the Medium tyre. Perez came through the field like a hot knife through butter, the rest of the field on the Hard tyres gave Perez the edge, making it up to eighth at the halfway mark.
Max Verstappen closed to Lewis Hamilton, eventually attempting an overtake on Lap 35, as Hamilton locked up the front tyres and went wide. However, despite Verstappen attempting to fly around the outside of Hamilton, he would run off the circuit at Turn 2, as Hamilton re-overtook Verstappen.
Hamilton and Verstappen kept duelling for a number of laps, allowing for the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to close on the pair.
McLaren would pit Lando Norris first, giving the Brit the more favourable strategy despite running behind his teammate. Piastri came out behind Norris, running wide at Turn 12 and into the gravel. The gap between the McLaren duo was only a few seconds,
Verstappen would come out of his final pit stop in fifth position, behind Leclerc and Hamilton, with the trio bunching in the final 20 laps.
Verstappen eventually managed to find his way past Leclerc, as the McLaren's battle continued on.
Lando Norris had been told on the radio a lot, to conserve his tyres and also to slow down and give the position to his teammate, but with just 10 laps remaining, the gap between them increased to over 5 seconds.
Verstappen and Hamilton duelled for position, eventually Verstappen would attempt an incredibly late move on Lap 63 at Turn 1, Verstappen locking up his front brakes and hitting Hamilton. Verstappen went airborne periodically and lost a lot of time.
Norris finally let Piastri back through with a few laps remaining, however remained within the DRS (Drag Reduction System) zone.
Oscar Piastri would come home to take his Maiden Grand Prix victory in Hungary with McLaren, Lando Norris completed a McLaren 1-2 as Lewis Hamilton brought home another podium for Mercedes. Charles Leclerc finished in fourth place followed by a sour Verstappen, who finished in fifth.
F1 Hungarian Grand Prix Results
1st Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2nd Lando Norris, McLaren
3rd Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4th Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5th Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6th Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
7th Sergio Perez, Red Bull
8th George Russell, Mercedes
9th Yuki Tsunoda, RB
10th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
11th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
12th Daniel Ricciardo, RB
13th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
14th Alex Albon, Williams
15th Kevin Magnussen, Haas
16th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
17th Logan Sargeant, Williams
18th Esteban Ocon, Alpine
19th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
DNF Pierre Gasly, Alpine (Mechanical issue)
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