McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured the first Formula 1 victory of his career during a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. His teammate, Lando Norris, finished second, and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton placed third, marking his 200th podium finish.
Norris led the race in its later stages but followed team orders to slow his pace, allowing Piastri to pass for the win. Piastri had led early in the event after a strong start but was overtaken by Norris during a pit-stop strategy that initially favored his teammate.
Norris, closer in points to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the driver standings, appeared frustrated by the team orders. However, he stated post-race, “The team asked me to do it, so I did it, and that’s it.”
Verstappen finished fifth after several disputes with his team over strategy and a late-race collision with Hamilton. The incident was investigated but no further action was deemed necessary, as reported by Motor Sport magazine’s Chris Medland.
“Today was a rough race for us so naturally that frustrated me as I want things to be better,” Verstappen said, according to The Associated Press. “I don’t think we were fast enough. We unfortunately just didn’t have the pace and the strategy wasn’t working for us today.
“I need to look back at what happened with Lewis, but I committed to the move and I don’t think I braked too late, but we collided.”
Piastri is the seventh different race winner this season, joining Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz.
Following Sunday’s result, McLaren (338 points) is now within 51 points of Red Bull (389 points) in the constructor standings.
