Formula 1 News: Superior McLarens finish 1-2 in Hungarian GP

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in their superior McLarens let polesitter Charles Leclerc lead for over 1/2 the race and then blew the Ferrari into the weeds to finish 1-2 in the 2025 Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Piastri on a 2-stop strategy caught Norris on a 1-stop strategy with 5 laps to go and got within 0.5s of Norris but could not get past on the tight Hungaroring circuit.

Piastri did not want to crash into his teammate under braking at Turn 1 and settled for 2nd.

It was the 4th straight 1-2 finish for the superior McLarens and the 200th F1 win for the team.

Piastri saw his point lead over Norris drop to nine points (284 to 275) as we now head into the 3-week summer break.

“I’m dead, I’m dead,” said Norris! “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.

“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.

“It’s always a bit of a gamble, it requires good laps and no mistakes. We are fighting hard, both of us. It is tough but fun racing with Oscar.”

“I pushed as hard as I could,” said Piastri.  “When I saw Lando going for a one, 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.

“He didn’t have much to lose with a 1-stop strategy, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, I don’t know if trying to undercut Leclerc was the right call in the end.”

George Russell passed Charles Leclerc for third, and he brought his Mercedes home in third, a massive 21-seconds behind the Mercedes of Norris and Piastri.

“Really happy with the race today,” said Russell.  “So happy to be back on the podium, as it was a bit dicey with Charles at some points. If you commit to a divebomb and the driver in front moves, there’s not much grip. I think we made slight contact, but pleased to make the move.”

Leclerc took 4th, 42.56s behind Norris after leading the race early, such was the pace of the superior McLarens.

Leclerc received a 5-second time penalty for driving erratically against Russell. He keeps P4 nevertheless.

Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-5 for Aston Martin, 59s behind the McLarens.

And where did World Champion Max Verstappen finish in the Pierre Wache designed Red Bull RB21 Dog?  A massive 72.6s behind the superior McLarens in 9th.  Verstappen lost over 1-second per lap for the entire race.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished 1-lap behind in 17th. The RB21 is perhaps the slowest car in F1 now.

Related Article: F1 News: Firing Horner won’t make the Red Bull dog any faster

Gabriel Bortoleto grabbed his best finish in sixth and grabs the ‘Driver of the Day’ accolade.

Lance Stroll was seventh on a big day for Aston Martin, ahead of Liam Lawson, Verstappen, and Kimi Antonelli.

2025 Hungarian GP Results: 70 Laps

Provisional Results