Formula 1
The odds seemed to be stacked against Lando Norris on Sunday as Oscar Piastri hunted him down at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, trying to overcome different McLaren strategies and a 12-second gap after his Australian teammate made a second pit stop.
Norris opted for a Hail Mary one-stop strategy when race engineer Will Joseph floated the idea mid-race. As the final laps unfolded, he had older tires and was racing in dirty air as they caught up to traffic with no DRS assistance. Piastri was quickly narrowing the gap, getting it within eight-tenths of a second with five laps to go.
It was a close battle, and the McLaren teammates came close to contact when Piastri locked up as he made a dive at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap. He was right on Norris’s tail and was told by his race engineer to “remember how we go racing” just beforehand. But, in the end, the Briton brought home McLaren’s 200th grand prix victory as he finished 0.698 seconds ahead.
McLaren navigated the race wisely to secure a maximum result, extending its already giant constructors’ championship lead. But from the drivers’ championship perspective, the last race before Formula One’s summer shutdown feels like a defining moment in their close battle.
