Written by Sophie Harvey
It was only a matter of time before Oscar Piastri took to the top step of the podium. With one sprint victory under his belt, the man from Melbourne now has the real deal — his maiden win. Though controversy has marred the Aussie’s solid performance, eyes remain firmly set on McLaren as they advance past Ferrari in the constructor’s standings and edge closer to surpassing Red Bull.
Winner: Oscar Piastri
Let’s start with the inevitable. We saw it coming, but whether the win would formulate was up for question — with just two laps to go, Lando Norris moved aside to let the Australian through. Piastri led home McLaren’s first 1-2 since 2021, where Daniel Ricciardo clinched a fairytale victory in Monza.
Though, this result is undoubtedly clouded by the significant use of team orders. Norris inherited the race lead after McLaren decided to box him first, only for the Woking-based team to request a swap in position.
Norris seemed reluctant towards this instruction, resisting calls to slow down and save tyres — after much persuasion, the Brit gave in and forfeit his sophomore win.
Controversy aside, Piastri’s momentous victory sees him become a race winner in just his second season — additionally, he is the only driver born in the 21st century to grace the top step.
"A very, very special day. This is the day I dreamed of as a kid, and to be standing on the top step of an F1 podium, with McLaren, is just incredible.”
Loser: Lando Norris
Despite coming home in second, it was clear that Norris wanted the win. As the closest competitor to Verstappen, you can argue that he needed the points more — the fact he had pulled out a six second lead only built his case stronger, but the papaya team still ruled that this win must go to Piastri.
“I just had to try put myself in his shoes and understand it that way,” said Norris, speaking out on how challenging the decision was, “every driver is selfish and you have to be selfish in this game but, when you’re just thinking of your own benefits, you’re only thinking of the good things. But of course, I put myself in his shoes and I realised I had to do what was right.”
“It’s tough, but I know what Oscar’s done for me in the past. I think this is a little bit different but, yeah, at the same time I got told to let him past and I did. It’s always tough when you’re fighting for a win, and a win means so much to me and also to him.”
Plenty of criticism now hangs over McLaren — whether the order at which McLaren decided to pit both drivers was poorly orchestrated or their on-track priorities were wrong, there is plenty for the team to debreif.
If there is one positive for Norris, it’s that McLaren clearly have the faster package. Is a win on the cards in Spa?
Winner: Mercedes
After a tricky qualifying saw Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell take P5 and P17 respectively, the Silver Arrows knew they needed a good Sunday. In a race clouded by McLaren’s inter-team drama and Verstappen’s frustrations, Mercedes became slightly anonymous during the 70 laps.
Hamilton had a great start off the third row, momentarily displacing Norris from the top-three. Mercedes’ strategy to undercut Verstappen’s Red Bull worked wonders, consolidating P3 once more.
In the latter laps, Verstappen caught up to the Brit and began to apply the pressure — reminiscent of our 2021 title fight, the pair dueled until the Dutchman locked up and clipped Hamilton’s W15. Verstappen’s RB20 became airborne, flying off the track and rejoining in P5.
“It was very, very tough to hold on, make those tyres last,” Hamilton explained, “and obviously the close battle we had at the end was a bit hair-raising but that's motor racing. I'm really happy and grateful for the points. Big thanks to the team.”
At the opposite end of the grid, Russell salvaged a nightmare qualifying with a solid recovery drive to P8. Although the Brit wanted more, the result is mighty considering their lack of performance at the Hungaroring.
Russell spoke out on this difficulty, saying: “We can argue that from these five weekends, this [in Hungary] has probably been our least competitive, and obviously Lewis on the podium today which is a great result for the team.”
Loser: Red Bull
Whilst a bad weekend for Red Bull is almost unheard of, this has certainly been a race to forget for both Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Heated exchanges between Verstappen and his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, took center stage throughout the race. Undercut by two rivals, the Dutchman was understandably unhappy, calling: “No mate, don’t give me this s*** – you guys gave me this s*** strategy, okay? I’m trying to rescue what’s left.”
In response to messages laced with expletives, Liambiase found himself calling Verstappen childish in response to an incident with Hamilton. Stewards ruled it to be a racing incident with no further intervention required, but the frustrated champion believed otherwise.
“I went for a move that was fully on,” he explained, “but then in the middle of the braking zone, when I’m already committed of course to the move, he suddenly just keeps [moving] right, and if I wouldn’t have turned while braking straight, I would have made contact with him. So I went in the air.”
Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez had an equally tough weekend. In qualifying, he found himself spinning into the wall at turn eight and dealing a hefty amount of damage to his RB20’s rear. Whilst the Mexican emerged unscathed, it once again put him on a backfoot for Sunday. In reaction to the incident, Perez simply stated: “Yeah, of course – it cannot happen again.
He finished the race in P7, far from the performance he needed. In a period of scrutiny for Perez, the pressure is on to prove he is worthy of his newly-extended contract — Christian Horner has already deemed his driving ‘unsustainable’ in the long run, whilst Helmut Marko reckons Spa will be Perez’s final chance.
Winner: Yuki Tsunoda
A messy start to Tsunoda’s weekend saw him bring out the red flags in qualifying, ending his Q3 prematurely with a shunt. Though, a solid performance from the Japanese driver soon turned things around come race day.
Finishing P9 with two points in the bag, Tsunoda’s crash was long forgotten. In delight, he began by thanking his mechanics and engineers by saying: “It wasn’t easy after such a big crash and we had to change a lot of things, but because of their hard work we were able to score the points today - huge credit to the whole team.”
“I think it was a big race for us, especially as we were able to finish ahead of our competitors, and it’s a huge positive for the coming races.”
Every point counts for RB — positioning themselves firmly ahead of Haas, they are now clawing back the distance between themselves and Aston Martin.
“Over the past few weeks, everyone in Faenza and Bicester worked hard and effectively, delivering the upturn in performance we witnessed here in Hungary,” said Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, “getting both cars into Q3 was proof of that.”
Touting Tsunoda as ‘sensational’, the Frenchman continued: “We were the only car daring to do a one-stop race, which allowed us to beat not only the midfield runners but also both Aston Martins. Yuki’s tyre management was second to none, and he made it stick to the end.”
Loser: Alpine
After evident improvements in prior races, Alpine seem to have found themselves back in a downward spiral. A nightmare qualifying saw Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly placed P19 and P20 respectively, the duo finishing their weekend with P18 and a DNF.
A rather deflated Gasly spoke out, stating: “It’s been a frustrating weekend. I started from the Pit Lane after introducing a new battery into my pool of Power Unit components. Our early pace looked promising so we extended the first stint to make up some positions”
“Our strategy looked like it was going to work out so it feels like we missed a real opportunity as we had to retire the car with a hydraulic leak at the halfway point.”
Ocon’s side of the garage were no happier, the man himself said: “We have plenty of things to analyse and improve on - operationally, performance-wise and reliability - from this weekend. We need a good reset before Spa next week and try to finish on a positive note before the summer break.”
Two mechanical failures in two races is hardly a statistic to be proud of. With Haas traveling farther out of reach in the constructors championship, is there anything the Enstone-based team can do to salvage their season?
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