McLaren’s Hungarian Masterclass: Norris Denies Piastri wins over Leclerc in Qualifying

Hungarian Grand Prix

Lando Norris clinched a tense Hungarian GP win to cut Oscar Piastri’s championship lead to nine points, while Charles Leclerc stunned with surprise pole in Hungary. Full race recap, qualifying drama, F1 standings, Verstappen incident Norris backlash & more.

 🕰 Hungarian Grand Prix Broadcast Information

  • Qualifying took place on August 2 culminating in Leclerc’s shock pole.
  • Sunday race started at 2 p.m. BST (3 p.m. local Budapest time).

 🏆 Qualifying Stats

  • Charles Leclerc claimed Ferrari’s first pole of 2025 by 0.026 seconds over Oscar Piastri despite Ferrari’s overall struggles. His teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified P12 and called himself “useless.
  • Piastri joins Leclerc on the front row followed by Lando Norris, George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
  • Leclerc reflected:

    “Today I don’t understand anything at Formula 1… I knew I had to do a clean lap… It’s pole.”

 ⚔ Race Recap: Norris Holds On

  • Lando Norris executed a one stop tire strategy making it work to hold off Piastri by just 0.698 seconds for a strategic win.
  • George Russell overtook Leclerc for P3 and Leclerc faded to P4 after strategic and driver errors.
  • Notably Max Verstappen finished P9 but faces possible penalties following a stewards review for a move on Lewis Hamilton.

 📈 What is Next after Championship

  • Piastri maintains the Drivers’ Championship lead now 198 points with Norris now at 176 a slim 9 point gap.
  • McLaren stretches its Constructors’ lead to 559 well ahead of Ferrari (260) and Mercedes (236).

 🔍 Tactical Details

  • Norris dropped to P5 on Lap 1 but regained track position via pit split strategy.
  • Piastri pushed hard in the final laps locking a tyre in Turn Number 1. He acknowledged, “We were just on the wrong side of” a hard two stop call.
  • Leclerc’s pace evaporated due to incorrect tire management sparking team radio frustration.

 🧠 Headlines & Controversy

  • Lando Norris is under fire for a sexist comment during a Twitch stream now sparking backlash despite his Hungarian success.
  • Lewis Hamilton publicly suggested Ferrari “probably need to change driver” citing his poor qualifying as evidence.

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