BREAKING: Hungarian Grand Prix result as F1 race ends in thrilling Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri duel

Daily Mirror

13 hours ago

Lando Norris secured a crucial win to his Formula 1 title bid with superb execution of an alternative strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix. While most pitted twice, the Brit made it work with just one change of tyres and went from fifth place by the end of lap one to victory over championship rival Oscar Piastri.
The Aussie piled the pressure on his team-mate over the final few laps having closed to within DRS range with fresher tyres. But a lock-up on the penultimate lap which almost saw him plough into the other McLaren lost him crucial time and gave Norris the breathing room he needed to get over the line.
Having taken a surprise pole position, Leclerc's first job was to make sure he still led the race by the end of the first lap. And he did exactly that with a superb launch off the line which did not give Piastri behind him even a sniff of a chance to overtake.
To make matters worse for McLaren, any chance they had of getting their cars to work together to reel in the Ferrari was lost through a horrible start for Norris. He lost speed weaving on the run down to the first corner and then braked far earlier than others, allowing first Russell and then Alonso to sweep around the outside.
It was not long before he was back ahead of the Aston Martin but found the Mercedes of Russell trickier to get past. His team-mate was having similar issues, having fallen to more than three seconds behind Leclerc in the opening 10 laps.
Having struggled to close that gap, the instruction came over the radio on lap 19: "Box to overtake Leclerc." Ferrari were able to defend against the undercut by bringing their driver in a lap later, but when he re-emerged onto the track that three-second advantage had been cut down to just one.
Crucially, though, after the warm-up lap on the new hard tyres, Leclerc got DRS and a tow from Alonso down the main straight before diving up the inside of the Aston Martin. It took Piastri a full lap to get by the Spaniard himself, which gave the Ferrari man some welcome breathing space.
Norris stayed out throughout all this, seemingly angling for a one-stop strategy. He was losing half-a-second per lap compared to those behind who had pitted at the time but he would have a clear advantage later in the race, so it had already turned into an intriguing strategy battle between the two title rivals.
Further back, Verstappen had started strongly from eighth with a couple of overtakes in the opening laps. But Red Bull's decision to bring him in earlier than some of the other cars around him backfired as he emerged from the pit lane in a lot of traffic and losing a lot more time than he would have liked.
It took him an age to get past Hamilton in the Ferrari and, when he did, they appeared to make contact and the Ferrari ended up going off the track briefly. Verstappen got ahead but the Dutchman was under scrutiny and it was confirmed that his move would be investigated after the race.
Back at the front, and Norris' one-stop strategy was working a treat as he was well within the pit window of the cars ahead by the time he made his stop. Piastri was presented with two options over the radio: Did he want to race Leclerc, or cover off his team-mate and title rival?
The Aussie made it clear he was mostly interested in beating Norris and so came a superbly-executed bluff from McLaren. "Box to overtake" was again the call, but made before Leclerc reached the pit entry and so Ferrari hastily brought in their driver to negate any risk of an undercut.
Except Piastri never planned to change his tyres at that point. What it gave him was the clear air he needed to stretch out the gap between him and his title rival, which was increasing all the time that Norris was stuck behind fellow Brit Russell up until lap 44 when Mercedes pulled their driver in.
Piastri pitted and had to get past Leclerc before hunting down his team-mate, but didn't take long to dispatch the Ferrari this time. And then he was haring after Norris, closing the gap quickly with his fresher tyres but knowing that he had to overtake to get the job done.
In Leclerc's cockpit, there was a Monegasque driver growing ever more angry. He was not pleased with the timing of his second pit stop and complained about his "undriveable" Ferrari as he lost time with every lap to those around him. "It will be a miracle if we finish on the podium," he said on lap 53, with Russell four seconds behind and closing fast.
He held off the Mercedes for as long as he could but was passed with eight laps to go, Russell then speeding off into the distance with the podium all-but secured. And the other looming duel would soon begin with Piastri almost within striking range of Norris ahead.