- McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon
- Teammate Lando Norris took second after reluctantly letting Piastri pass
- Lewis Hamilton finished third despite a late collision with Max Verstappen
Lando Norris gave in to team orders with three laps to go in Hungary, allowing his McLaren garage mate Oscar Piastri to win his first race – and one of the most controversial in the team’s history.
Amid heated scenes, Norris was repeatedly ordered to let his McLaren team-mate, 23-year-old Piastri, pass. Coded messages were passed. And overt ones. And contradictory ones.
It was a test of his ruthlessness. Would he give in? Should he give in, after the order of the pair’s second pit stops had given him the lead? He had emerged from the pits 3.3 seconds ahead when the first instructions to ‘restore order’ came over his radio. But he was now the fastest of the pair, and somehow. He pulled out a lead of more than five seconds.
He also had a world championship to think about – when will McLaren ever get the message? He was the one who started the race 84 points behind Verstappen; not 131 like Piastri. And he was told at the crucial stop that it was timed to beat Lewis Hamilton.
Should he then change position?
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Sunday afternoon
Piastri celebrates his victory by waving to the crowd at the Hungaroring circuit
Australian Piastri took the checkered flag after a dramatic and controversial race
It was a McLaren one-two as Briton Lando Norris finished second at the Hungaroring
With it looking like he wasn’t going to give in, he was ordered to do so by race engineer Will Jeffrey. ‘You can’t win a world championship on your own,’ he was told. ‘The only way is to win it as a team.’
“You’ve made your point,” he was told as he continued his running attack.
But with three laps to go he gave in to the insistent demands. He slowed down on the pit straight. ‘You don’t have to say anything,’ the Brit said disdainfully.
Hamilton finished third for Mercedes – a good day for him, who survived an uncontrollable move from Verstappen. The pair collided on lap 63 of 70, sending the Dutchman airborne. He remained in fifth, and in conflict with his pit wall, who called his complaints ‘childish’.
There was drama before the race even started in a harbinger of things to come Norris reported problems with his throttle pedal as he drove his car onto a grid of egg-drying heat. His mechanics rushed to his aid in a panic, one of them worming his hands through the chassis to the clever components hidden beneath.
Others stared at computer screens in this desperate attempt to get the pole-sitter to start the race at all. They struggled through the singing of the national anthem – Placido Domingo was close to the front of the ceremony, but without an autograph session.
Norris went back to the car for an update. He was able to start. The grid cleared.
Max Verstappen (left) and Lewis Hamilton (right) collided towards the end of Sunday’s race
The collision caused three of Verstappen’s four wheels to temporarily leave the track
Despite the collision, Hamilton (fifth from right) finished on the podium after finishing third
Hamilton appeared pleased with his afternoon’s work after Sunday’s Grand Prix
Piastri (right) and Hamilton (left) pictured spraying each other with champagne on stage
Could Norris get away as cleanly as he wanted? Could he make it to the first corner ahead of him this time, since he hadn’t made it to Spain from the same spot. He couldn’t cause a drama. He couldn’t, he pushed too far to the right and fell over Piastri, who started second. Verstappen, who came on the outside of them, went three abreast. The Dutchman ran away and gained a place. Norris dropped back to fourth place for a while and then to third place on that first lap.
Piastri was in the lead and Verstappen was told to give up a place to Norris because he went off track.
‘Okay, then you can just run people off the track,’ Verstappen raged. ‘You can tell the FIA that this is how we’re going to race from now on. Just run people off the road.’
Anyway, Piastri led until the second round of pit stops, which changed things dramatically. And when Norris bowed to his bosses, they changed for good.
