Driver Takes Maiden Victory At The Hungaroring

Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix after an eventful and dramatic race. Joining the McLaren driver on the podium was his teammate Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton who crossed the line in second and third position, respectively.

Lap 1: Lando Norris, starting from pole position, got a good start but lost his position at the first corner as Max Verstappen went around the outside and rejoined the track ahead of him. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri, who started from second, took the opportunity to lead the race.

Lap 3: After a couple of laps of McLaren arguing for Red Bull to give the place back to Lando Norris, Max Verstappen is now under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Red Bull advise the frustrated reigning champion to give the position back.

Lap 4: Max Verstappen gives the position back to Lando Norris but is very frustrated by it. He says to Red Bull, “OK, so you can just drive people off the track then? You can tell the FIA that’s how we’re going to race from now onwards. Just driving people off the road.”

Lap 7: Early pit stops are starting with Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen head in to change for hard compound tires.

Lap 10: Oscar Piastri has gained a lead of 2.5 seconds on his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, and Norris has now built a 1.8-second gap to Max Verstappen.

Lap 14: Lando Norris is told by McLaren that his battle is with Max Verstappen behind him rather than Oscar Piastri in front of him.

Lap 16: Lewis Hamilton comes in to pit in an attempt to undercut Max Verstappen.

Lap 18: Lando Norris is the next of the front-runners to pit for hard tires. Max Verstappen is yet to react to Lewis Hamilton’s potential undercut. The Dutch driver is not happy with the Red Bull. He says on the team radio, “I can’t brake. I can’t enter corners. Front and rears. It’s really bad.”

Lap 19: Oscar Piastri pits from the lead and comes out in fourth position.

Lap 21: Lewis Hamilton, despite setting fastest lap after fastest lap, claims to the Mercedes team, “This tyre definitely has less grip.”

Lap 21: Max Verstappen finally pits and comes out 5 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton after a 3-second pit stop.

Lap 27: Oscar Piastri currently leads ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Lap 30: The battle for third is on between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the former currently on the defence.

Lap 33: Max Verstappen is now within DRS of Lewis Hamilton.

Lap 33: Pierre Gasly is told by Alpine to return to the pits to retire the car due to a suspected hydraulic leak.

Lap 34: Oscar Piastri has a moment and runs off the track but manages to avoid crashing and maintains his lead.

Lap 35: Max Verstappen goes for the overtake on Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1 but runs wide and off the track.

Lap 37: Max Verstappen is frustrated as he still cannot overtake Lewis Hamilton. He says to the Red Bull team: “I’m minus five brake bias and this thing just doesn’t turn. It’s unbelievable.”

Lap 41: Lewis Hamilton pits, followed by Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen stays out. Verstappen continues to fume at his team, saying: “It’s quite impressive how we let ourselves get undercut, and just completely **** my race”

Lap 45: Lando Norris pits from second position. He comes out behind Carlos Sainz in fourth position.

Lap 48: Oscar Piastri pits to lose his lead to Lando Norris.

Lap 49: Lando Norris, who is leading, is told that once Oscar Piastri catches up with him, he is to give the lead back to his teammate.

Lap 50: Max Verstappen pits and comes out in fifth position.

Lap 53: Max Verstappen fumes at Red Bull once again: “You gave me this **** strategy. I’m trying to rescue what’s left.”

Lap 57: Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc for fourth position. He will now fight Lewis Hamilton for third position.

Lap 58: Lando Norris has extended his lead from Oscar Piastri. McLaren is still instructing Norris to let Piastri pass him when he catches up… although it looks as though Norris is going to make it hard for his teammate.

Lap 62: Max Verstappen is within DRS zone of Lewis Hamilton once again.

Lap 63: Max Verstappen goes for the overtake at Turn 1 but makes contact with Lewis Hamilton, sending the rear of the Red Bull up into the air. Both continue with the race but Verstappen loses a place to Charles Leclerc. Hamilton continues in 3rd followed by Leclerc and Verstappen.

Verstappen fumes again on the radio but is shot down by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “I’m not getting into this on the radio, it’s childish.”

Lap 67: The Stewards will be investigating the collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton after the session.

Lap 68: After multiple laps of back-and-forth between McLaren and Lando Norris, the latter lets Oscar Piastri through for the lead of the race.

1. Oscar Piastri
2. Lando Norris
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Max Verstappen
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Sergio Perez
8. George Russell
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Lance Stroll
11. Fernando Alonso
12. Daniel Ricciardo
13. Nico Hulkenberg
14. Alex Albon
15. Kevin Magnussen
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Logan Sargeant
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Zhou Guanyu
20. Pierre Gasly – DNF