Lando Norris held off a final-laps push from teammate Oscar Piastri to hold on and win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in Budapest.
For the McLaren drivers, it was their seventh 1-2 finish on the season and the team’s 11th victory in 14 events in 2025.
George Russell of Mercedes was third and polesitter Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was fourth.
With three laps remaining, the race was between the two McLaren cars. Piastri had a chance to pass at Turn 1 on the 69th lap, but his tire locked and the cars narrowly avoided a collision.
McLaren used different strategies for the two drivers. Norris made just one stop for service while Piastri stopped twice.
Piastri, with fresher tires, narrowed the gap but couldn’t pass Norris.
To Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, the race was just what the team wanted.
“It was great to see them race very hard but very clean and they are happy boys. They know what they are doing, they know what the rules of engagement are,” Brown said.
“They are going for it, which is exactly what we want to see. It just shows how evenly matched they are.”
The win was the 200th on the Formula One circuit for McLaren.
“I’m dead, I’m dead! It was tough, we weren’t planning on the one-stop at the beginning but after the first lap it was our only chance to get back into things,” Norris said after the race, his fifth victory on the season and third in the past four races.
“I was pushing flat out, the perfect result today. I didn’t think it would get us the win. I thought it would get us into second as I knew the pace was good.”
Piastri has a nine-point lead over Norris with 10 races remaining.
“I pushed as hard as I could. When I saw Lando going for a one [stop], I knew I’d have to overtake on track, which is easier said than done around here. Today, we were just on the wrong side of it,” Piastri said.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen and seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton will be investigated over an incident at Turn 4 between the two.
F1 is taking a summer hiatus, with racing the Dutch Grand Prix scheduled for Aug. 31 at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
–Field Level Media
