Hungary for more: Oscar Piastri returns to Hungaroring as F1 leader
The 24-year-old has won six of 13 grands prix so far this season, already more than any Australian driver has ever managed in a single year, and leads his British rival by 16 points with 11 races remaining.
'I'm really excited to go back. It's always a fun weekend. It's a great city, a cool track as well,' said Piastri after winning a rain-delayed race in Belgium last Sunday in McLaren's sixth one-two of the season.
'I'm sure Thursday will be nice to go back to where I had my first win. But as soon as we get on track, you forget about that immediately.'
Hungary — hot and twisty and with a layout more like an overgrown go-kart track that makes overtaking tricky — puts a premium on qualifying.
Norris took pole last time in Hungary but lost out to Piastri at the start, recovered the lead when the Australian suffered a slower pit stop and was then ordered by the team to hand back the place.
The Briton eventually complied but it rankled at the time and he will be looking to win on Sunday without any such controversy.
With McLaren dominant, and historically the most successful team in Hungary, the stage is set for another duel between the teammates.
Who joins them on the podium remains an open question but this could be the moment Lewis Hamilton has been waiting for with Ferrari, while teammate Charles Leclerc has had five podiums already this season.
Hamilton has an unrivalled record at the Hungaroring with eight wins and was third last year, admittedly in a Mercedes, behind the McLarens. He also has nine poles at the circuit outside Budapest.
'In the last few races, we've made progress in terms of competitiveness, and in Belgium, thanks to a lot of hard work back in Maranello, we introduced an upgrade package that further improved our performance,' said team boss Fred Vasseur. 'It will be interesting to see how the updated SF-25 performs on a completely different track, twisty, with plenty of medium and low-speed corners. Charles and Lewis are both in good form, and the team is also performing well.'
George Russell set the fastest lap last year for Mercedes but his team have made some wrong turns in development and have work to do, with Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli also keen to get back in the points.
'After a tough weekend in Belgium, we are looking to put in a more competitive showing,' said team boss Toto Wolff. 'Our performances in recent races have not been up to our standards, and we have work planned to both understand why that has been and get on top of it this weekend.'
Four-times world champion Max Verstappen, winner in Hungary in 2022 and 2023, will be starting his 200th race for Red Bull.
The race is the 40th Hungarian Grand Prix and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who took his first win at the circuit with Renault in 2003, has raced in more than half of them, this being his record 22nd.
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TimesLIVE
10 hours ago
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Norris fastest in second Hungarian GP practice, Piastri second
Lando Norris completed a Hungarian Grand Prix practice double on Friday as runaway leaders McLaren dominated both sessions while leaving something in reserve and almost colliding at the end. Norris was top of the time sheets in both sessions at the Hungaroring outside Budapest, with Formula One leader Oscar Piastri second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc emerging as McLaren's closest rival. The Briton was 0.019 of a second faster than teammate Piastri, who has a 16-point lead after 13 of 24 races, in first practice and 0.291 quicker in the late afternoon when he set a best lap of 1:15.624 seconds. At the end of the session, with the chequered flag already waved, Norris locked up coming out of the pits for a practice start as Piastri, winner in Belgium last weekend, went around the outside at turn one. Norris was on pole at the circuit last year in a race won by Piastri, his first victory in F1. Leclerc was third fastest in both sessions, with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar fourth in the opening one but Aston Martin coming on strong in the second with Lance Stroll fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth. Double world champion Alonso had missed practice one due to back pain, with Brazilian reserve Felipe Drugovich standing in for him. Lewis Hamilton, winner a record eight times in Hungary with McLaren and Mercedes, was fifth and sixth on his return with Ferrari. Mercedes's form looked more encouraging than at the last race in Belgium, with George Russell ending the day seventh, after earlier complaining about his car's balance, and Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli 10th. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen was ninth and 14th respectively in the sessions, with Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda 17th and ninth. 'I don't know what's going on. It's just undriveable, I can't get any balance,' said Verstappen over the team radio at one point in the late afternoon. Verstappen was summoned to the stewards for a bizarre incident in which the four-time world champion threw what appeared to be a rag out of the car's cockpit while on track at turn three. Estonian Paul Aron took Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber for the opening session and was last after having to stop before the midpoint of the session due to a technical problem. Hulkenberg was 12th on his return.
TimesLIVE
11 hours ago
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Norris leads McLaren one-two in first Hungarian GP practice
Lando Norris lapped 0.019 of a second quicker than Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri as the McLaren pair finished one-two in first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday. Norris, 16 points behind his Australian teammate going into the last race before the August break, lapped the Hungaroring with a best time of 1:16.052 seconds with the soft tyres on a sunny afternoon. The Briton was on pole at the circuit last year in a race won by Piastri, his first victory in F1. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third fastest, 0.217 off the pace, with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar in fourth. Lewis Hamilton, winner a record eight times in Hungary, was fifth for Ferrari and suffered a big lock-up as he wrestled with the car. Oliver Bearman was sixth for Haas, ahead of Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell with Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen ninth and Lance Stroll completing the top 10 for Aston Martin. Russell complained about his car's balance and said it was hard to turn. Verstappen's Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda was only 17th. Brazilian Felipe Drugovich stood in for Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, with the Spaniard suffering from back pain, and was 16th fastest. Estonian Paul Aron also took Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber for the session and was last after having to stop before the midpoint of the session due to a technical problem.
IOL News
11 hours ago
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The end of an era: Can Max Verstappen make a comeback?
Red Bull fans will be happy to know that Max Verstappen will be staying another season. | AFP Image: AFP There used to be a period in Formula 1 when Max Verstappen's name was on top of everything - practice sessions, warm ups, sprints and main races. But this season, its been an all orange affair and the first practice session of the Hungartian grand prix weeked hasn't been any different. Verstappen was almost a whole second of the lead pace set by Lando Norris while his fellow Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda was struggling at the bottom of the pack. Ferrari have grown out of Red Bull's shadow and seem to be the front runner up behind McLaren's pace - with Charles Leclerc finding the right lines around the Hungaroring on Friday. Norris, Oscar Piastri and Leclerc made up the top three drivers during FP1. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar had a phenomenal session, posting the fourth quickest time of the day, inches ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari. Video Player is loading. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Verstappen managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat last week in Belgium when he beat the McLarens and won the Sprint at Spa, twisting the RB21 up and over Eau Rouge to give his home fans something to cheer. But the long term race pace just wasn't there for the Champion, getting outrun by Piastri (P1) and Norris (P2) again. Piastri's win last week and Norris's P2 podium finish has all but solidified an orange victory at the end of this season. Fans and maybe even McLaren boss himself, Zak Brown, don't know yet just which driver in McLaren will lift the trophy. Although Piastri has dominated his teammate this season, Norris looked like he isn't throwing in the towel over the course of the past few races, and closing the point gap between them. For the four-time World Champion Verstappen, however, it doesn't look like he's equaling Michael Schumacher's record of five-striaght World Titles any time soon. Pity though, it would have capped off a hall-of-fame level career at Red Bull, although there will always be a cloud hanging over the 2021 title. Red Bull just haven't been able to deliver a car capable of allowing Verstappen to compete at McLaren or recently, Ferrari's level. The team have experimented with different aerodynamic appraoches for the first half of the season, even opting for a super skinny rear wing at one point. Now 109 points behind Piastri in the leader, Verstappen will need to find whatever last bit of juice the RB21 has to offer before its too late. While it already may be a little too late in terms of points, its Formula 1, so you never know what type of second half McLaren might have. Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko came out swinging this week, defending his team an d Verstappen's seat for next season. The Hungarian GP posed an important mark on the calendar for Red Bull fans, mainly because of the release clause in Verstappen's contract. It allegedly states that if he is fourth or lower in standings, he is allowed to exit the contract. Marko said it was ridiculous "other people thought they knew the contract better than us", after he was quizzed about it by Austrian media. According to Verstappen, he never had any plans of leaving but did enjoy stirring the pot a bit. "That's me, and I do that on purpose because it makes no sense to start throwing things around and actually that should be the same for everyone. "Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama but for me it's always been quite clear and also for next year. "I'm discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change next year so that means I'm also staying with the team for next year and if my boat is next to Toto's then the boat is next to Toto's," Verstappen said in Hungary. He's confirmed Verstappen's place in Red Bull next year, which was widely speculated about. It was alleged that Toto Wolff wanted to sign Verstappen onto Mercedes, but with the new regulations coming into effect next year, Marko said the move would not have " made sense" . "I can confirm Verstappen will be driving for Red Bull next season," he said. According to Verstappen, he never had any plans of leaving but did enjoy stirring the pot a bit. "That's me, and I do that on purpose because it makes no sense to start throwing things around and actually that should be the same for everyone. "Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama but for me it's always been quite clear and also for next year. "I'm discussing with the team already the plans, the things that we want to change next year so that means I'm also staying with the team for next year and if my boat is next to Toto's then the boat is next to Toto's," Verstappen said in Hungary.
