Lando Norris took victory ahead of championship leader Oscar Piastri, with George Russell finishing third.
Photo: Sam Bagnall
The McLarens were once again among the strongest performers, but in qualifying they were surprised by Charles Leclerc, who managed to get ahead of both orange McLarens and started the race from pole position.
At the start of the race, Leclerc held onto first place, while Lando dropped from third to fifth. This left Norris with no choice but to go for a one-stop strategy in order to have any chance of fighting for the lead — and in the end, that strategy proved to be the winning one. Lando managed his tyres well and was able to keep his teammate behind, despite Piastri being on a two-stop strategy and having significantly fresher tyres in the closing stages. Norris resisted the pressure and secured a very close win.
Leclerc, who had led the entire first stint, began to drop back significantly after the pit stops. According to George Russell, the issue was excessive wear to the car’s floor plank due to running a very low ride height. Ferrari, he said, increased tyre pressures during the pit stop to raise the ride height and avoid a potential post-race disqualification. Leclerc ultimately finished only fourth.
His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, had another poor weekend — he failed to make it out of Q2 in qualifying and finished just 12th in the race.
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| Photo: Jayce Illman |
Thanks to Russell, Mercedes returned to the podium for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix, where he took the win. George capitalised on Leclerc’s struggles and battled him in a tense fight for the final podium position in the closing laps. His teammate Kimi Antonelli, like Hamilton, also failed to advance from Q2 and managed to score just a single point with a tenth-place finish.
Aston Martin bounced back in Hungary after a very weak weekend at Spa, as if revived. Alonso delivered a brilliant drive and pushed his green Aston Martin all the way to fifth. Behind him in sixth was his protege Gabriel Bortoleto, who got the most out of his Sauber and was rewarded with 8 points. Lance Stroll followed in seventh.
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| Photo: Clive Rose |
The highest-finishing Red Bull was, paradoxically, the sister car of Liam Lawson, who finished eighth. Right behind him in ninth was a surprisingly struggling Max Verstappen, who had issues with his car all weekend — just like his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished down in 17th.