Lando Norris worked the strategy to hold off Oscar Piastri in F1 Hungarian GP win, as George Russell ended up third.
It was cloudy but dry to start F1 Hungarian GP at Hungaroring where Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed to hold the lead over McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Teammate Lando Norris made a good start but got boxed behind the Australian and braked early at Turn 1 on the inside to loose out.
He lost to Mercedes’ George Russell at Turn 1 and in the lead up to Turn 4-5-6, he lost out to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to drop to fifth. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was up to sixth from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson up in eighth.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dropped to ninth from Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who managed to gain a place on Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman complained of hand issue after replays showed that the gravel lit up by the Brit ahead, came straight into the cockpit of Hadjar.
Verstappen, meanwhile, started to make inroads after clearing Lawson and Stroll in couple of laps, but was stuck in a DRS train behind Bortoleto, who had Alonso ahead of him. The Spaniard lost to Norris quickly at the start, where the McLaren driver got stuck behind Russell.
Bortoleto and Sauber teammate Nico Hulkenberg were pinged for false start. While the Brazilian was cleared, the German was handed a 5s time penalty. At the front, Leclerc held onto the F1 Hungarian GP lead from Piastri and Russell, who was being chased by Norris.
Outside the Top 10, Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli gained places to be 13th, as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton dropped to 14th after starting on the hard compound to go long in the first stint. The pit stop push came from Piastri on Lap 19 when they pitted him first ahead of Leclerc.
It was a quick stop and quick out lap, but Leclerc maintained his pace coupled with quick stop allowed him to stay ahead of Piastri after his Lap 20 stop, to continue in the net lead of F1 Hungarian GP. Russell pitted together with the Monegasque, but Norris went long in a strategy difference.
Verstappen at the fag end got stuck behind Bearman, Hadjar and Hamilton DRS train. The Dutchman hustled the Brit at Turn 4 to make the move. It sent the Ferrari driver off track, with the move under investigation. Verstappen cleared Hadjar as Bearman pitted to give him clean air.
Norris finally pitted on Lap 31 in his push to undertake one-stop strategy. Leclerc, meanwhile, radioed about potential issue which could cost them the grand prix win. But he managed to keep a good gap to Piastri behind. Russell was third, as Norris dropped to fourth after his late stop.
Alonso and Bortoleto maintained fifth and sixth after electing not to stop. Even Stroll and Lawson didn’t do so until Stroll pitted on Lap 37. Alonso pitted on Lap 40. In the battle for the lead, Norris started to reel the Top 3, as Leclerc took the first step to pit on Lap 41.
Lawson did on the same lap, as Bortoleto pitted on Lap 42. Russell pitted on Lap 44, followed by Piastri on Lap 46. It was Norris in the lead of F1 Hungarian GP, being chased by Leclerc, Piastri and Russell. It was Verstappen in fifth after they elected to try the bold one-stop after stopping early.
Alonso was about 10s behind him in sixth but ahead of Bortoleto, with Stroll eighth and Lawson in ninth. Antonelli climbed up to 10th but had Hadjar in the chase after the Frenchman managed to clear both the Haas cars. Hamilton dropped to 15th after his one-stop, leaving him to clear five cars to Top 10.
Eventually on Lap 49, Red Bull decided to pit Verstappen, who dropped to ninth. At the front, Piastri managed to reel Leclerc in and take second on Lap 51. The Monegasque was not happy on the radio, as Russell started to catch him. A damage to the rear of Bearman’s car forced him to retire.
Things started to heat up in the fight for third as Russell caught Leclerc soon. He tried a Turn 1 move but the Monegasque shut the door. He tried again on the next lap at Turn 1 and the Ferrari driver almost shut the door, but the Brit went through still to secure the podium place.
The move was under investigation, along with another one between Hulkenberg and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 1. Gasly was handed a 10s time penalty for causing collision against Williams’ Carlos Sainz. With the third place fight settled, Piastri reeled Norris in, in the battle for F1 Hungarian GP win.
Piastri tried couple of times at Turn 1 which included a lock-up that settled the situation. Norris held on to a one-stop strategy and win F1 Hungarian GP by 0.698s margin to cut the gap to nine points, as Piastri had to settle for second. Russell was third, with Leclerc fourth despite the 5s time penalty.
Alonso secured a solid result of fifth from equally important sixth for Bortoleto. Stroll made it points galore for Aston Martin in seventh, as Lawson managed to hold off Verstappen for eighth. It was same for Antonelli, who scored the last point and kept Hadjar and Hamilton at bay.
Hulkenberg was 13th from Sainz, with Williams’ Alexander Albon in 15th from Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Tsunoda, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Gasly, with the Frenchman dropping last after penalty. Everyone from Antonelli to Gasly finished a lap down on the leaders.
UPDATE: The stewards cleared Verstappen of his incident against Hamilton, where the Brit did not attend the meet. The Dutchman noted that he was under full control and that the Brit decided to go off track on his own and not because of the Red Bull driver.
Hamilton’s representative agreed that there was no contact and that he went off on his own in the corner. Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1952047100885094754
The incident between Tsunoda and Hulkenberg was also cleared by the stewards. Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1952039363690291317
Here’s explanation on Leclerc’s penalty: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1952040385213079878
Here’s false start explanation: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_hungarian_grand_prix_-_infringement_-_car_27_-_false_start.pdf
