F1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris holds off Oscar Piastri to take the checkered flag

The strategy came to Lando Norris at the Hungaroring, and the McLaren driver made the most of it

After McLaren dominated all three practice sessions as well as the first two segments of qualifying, the wind shifted for Q3 on Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

So too did the fight for pole position.

Instead of Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris, it will be Charles Leclerc up front when the lights go out later today at the Hungaroring. Leclerc shocked the Formula 1 world, and himself, to take pole position on Saturday.

He will have a tough task ahead of him in keeping those fast McLarens at bay over the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix, and complicating factors are the weather forecast. As of Saturday night, forecasts were calling for a rainy Sunday morning in Budapest, as well as potential rain in the hour leading up to the race itself.

In other words, it could be a fascinating Hungarian Grand Prix.

We’ll have it all covered for you here on SB Nation, with live coverage beginning on Sunday ahead of the race itself, which begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. So come back early and often!

Note: Updates are either in Eastern time before and after the race, or by Lap number.

Provisional results

Here are the provisional results from the Hungarian Grand Prix, before any post-race penalties are handed out.

Note: An incident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be investigated after the race.

Race Notes

10:49: “So happy to be back on the podium. It was a bit dicey with Charles,” says Russell.

“Just glad to get through it.”

10:48: “I think I needed to be at least a couple of tenths closer [to overtake Norris] and it was going to take a mistake from Lando for that,” says Piastri of his lunge on Norris in the closing laps.

10:47: “I pushed as hard as I could,” begins Piastri. “I knew I was going to have to overtake on track which is much easier said than done around here.

“We were just on the wrong side of it. Team did a great job ... car has been great all weekend.”

10:46: “It’s always a bit of a gamble,” says Norris about the one-stop strategy.

“We’re fighting hard,” says Norris about the battle with Piastri. “Great for us as a team ... our 200th win in Formula 1 ... [Oscar] put up a good charge.”

10:45: James Hinchcliffe is conducting the post-race interviews.

“I’m dead,” begins Norris. “We weren’t planning on the one stop at the beginning, but after the first lap it was my only option to get back into things.”

10:40: “Lovely. Good racing, good strategy, good call,” says Norris after the checkered flag.

Lap 70: LANDO NORRIS HAS WON THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX. He holds Piastri off through the final few corners to take the win, and a huge moment in the title chase.

Lap 70: Norris holds the lead through the first few corners of the final lap. Piastri is still just 0.3 seconds behind, keeping the pressure on.

Lap 69: Piastri makes a lunge at Turn 1, but locks up. The McLaren’s came close, but they fight on with Norris in the lead.

Axl Rose will be waving the checkered flag, it seems.

Lap 68: Piastri has a snap on the final turn of Lap 67, and loses a bit of momentum, costing him a shot at getting Norris on that lap. He’ll have a few more chances.

Lap 66: Antonelli gets out of the way of Norris at Turn 13. Four laps to go and Norris is 0.9 seconds ahead of Piastri.

Lap 65: Piastri is within DRS range. “This could be one of the deciding moments of the entire season,” says Palmer on F1TV.

If they finish like this, Piastri’s lead over Norris will be down to nine points. But if Piastri wins that gap will expand to 23 points.

Lap 64: “Light spots of rain,” reports Russell. Or maybe it is sweat.

Lap 63: “The traffic is going to ruin my race,” says Norris, who has a 1.5 second lead over Piastri.

The incident between Russell and Leclerc has been noted by race officials.

Lap 62: Russell is furious with Leclerc for “moving under breaking” on Lap 61. But Russell sticks the overtake eventually on Lap 62.

Palmer says he will be “fascinated” to see what Leclerc says after the race because Ferrari is “nowhere” on this final stint.

Lap 61: Ten laps to go. The closest battles on the grid right now are between Leclerc and Russell for P3, Lawson and Verstappen for P8, Hadjar and Hamilton for P11, and Gasly and Sainz for P14.

Lap 60: F1TV predicts a battle between Norris and Piastri is coming in five laps.

If you thought last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix between these two was interesting, just wait ...

Lap 59: Russell is within DRS range of Leclerc.

The current top ten: Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Alonso, Bortoleto, Stroll, Lawson, Verstappen, and Antonelli. Hadjar is in P11, 1.3 seconds off Antonelli.

Lap 58: Norris leads by just four seconds over Piastri.

Meanwhile, making some jokes on the timeline:

Lap 55: McLaren tells Norris that if there is a Safety Car they would use the moment to pit for a hard tire, but Norris indicates he would rather have a set of soft tires to sprint to the end.

The gap between Leclerc and Russell is down to 2.6 seconds, and the Ferrari driver might be right that he will lose a podium.

Lap 54: Leclerc is very frustrated with “issues” he has needed to manage, and says it will be a “miracle” if he stays on the podium.

Lap 53: Charles Leclerc needs a hug.

Lap 53: That gap is down to 6.8 seconds and Piastri is “flying” as described on the F1TV broadcast.

Lap 52: The gap from Norris to Piastri is 8.1 seconds, as a reference point.

Lap 52: Bearman has retired with rear-end damage.

Lap 51: Piastri is right on Leclerc’s heels heading into the main straight. Using DRS he makes the overtake stick on the outside and “absolutely sails by” Leclerc as called by Alex Jacques.

We’re going to get a McLaren fight for the win at the Hungaroring, as expected. Can Norris hold Piastri off on older hard tires?

Lap 49: Verstappen comes in for another pit stop, and comes back out in P9.

His incident with Hamilton earlier in the race will be investigated after the race.

Lap 47: “Let’s do everything we can for blue flags please. Let’s be proactive with it,” requests Norris over the radio. He does not want drivers at the back of the lap holding him up/keeping him in dirty air.

The gap from Norris to Leclerc is over seven seconds, and the game from Leclerc to Piastri is just about five seconds.

Lap 46: Norris is in the lead, followed by Leclerc and Piastri.

Lap 46: Piastri comes into the pit lane, sounding rather “downbeat” on the radio as described by Alex Jacques on the F1TV broadcast.

Lap 44: Mercedes calls Russell in, and that is huge for Norris as it releases him to chase down the win, and makes it tougher for Leclerc to chase him down.

“Ferrari will be cursing” that decision says Palmer in the F1TV broadcast booth.

Lap 42: Norris is just 1.5 seconds behind Norris. But Leclerc is only 6.7 seconds behind Norris. A fascinating finish is shaping up at the Hungaroring.

Lap 40: Ferrari takes the bait from McLaren, as they bring Leclerc in for a pit stop after McLaren started to ready for Piastri in pit lane. It is a phenomenal stop from Ferrari, and Leclerc comes out on a fresh set of hard tires.

Piastri has some clear air in front of him now, and he’ll try and make the most of it.

Lap 39: Norris is within four seconds of Russell in front of him, having cut that gap in half after his pit stop. He is absolutely flying right now, but the question will be how much rubber he has left in those C3 hard tires at the end.

Lap 38: “Just let me drive,” says Russell when Mercedes tells him he is delivering good lap times.

Replays on F1TV show Norris dipping into the gravel at Turn 12. “Lando, just keep the focus,” is the reminder from race engineer Will Joseph.

Lap 35: Piastri is headed towards a two stop. McLaren asks him if he can get to the end on a hard tire. “If I pit again, yes,” is the driver’s response.

Lap 33: “Norris may well now be the greater threat,” says Jolyon Palmer on F1TV, about the challenges Leclerc faces. Because in addition to Norris, Piastri remains in undercut range.

That is the benefit of having two drivers at the front, as it gives a team more options for a win.

Lap 32: McLaren delivers another rapid pit stop for Norris, 1.9 seconds on the stop itself.

The incident between Hamilton and Verstappen has been noted by race officials.

Lap 31: Norris goes by the entrance to pit lane, and he’ll go around for at least one more lap. He has firmly put himself into one-stop territory.

Verstappen again makes a move at the chicane, this time on Hadjar.

McLaren has called Norris in for his pit stop.

Lap 30: A big moment between Verstappen and Hamilton at the chicane. Verstappen gets to the inside and forces the Ferrari off the racing line and near the gravel.

Lap 29: “We are going to lose this race,” says Leclerc in P2. He is worried about being between the McLarens, and potentially two different strategies.

Lap 28: Leclerc is within 6.1 seconds of Norris.

McLaren asks Norris about a one-stop, which would require around 40 laps on a set of hards. “Yeah why not,” is the response from the driver.

Lap 26: Here is the current running order: Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Russell, Alonso, Bortoleto, Stroll, Lawson, Bearman, Hadjar, Hamilton, Verstappen, Gasly, Hülkenberg, Sainz, Albon, Ocon, Colapinto, Antonelli, and Tsunoda.

Lap 26: Piastri asks if the team believes a one-stop strategy could work. “Difficult, Oscar,” is the response.

Norris remains in the lead, which is down to 8.5 seconds over Leclerc. But he is still out on his initial set of C4 medium tires.

Lap 22: Norris leads Leclerc by over 11 seconds, and F1TV is speculating that he might give a one-stop strategy a shot.

As we noted in the strategy preview, the window on the medium tire for a one-stop strategy comes up around Lap 25 to Lap 33.

Lap 19: Leclerc is being called in, and this is a huge pit stop for Ferrari after McLaren delivered a rapid stop for Piastri.

It is a clean stop for Leclerc, just 2.0 seconds, and Leclerc gets out in front of Piastri, but Leclerc locks up returning to the track and Piastri may have a chance. McLaren tells Piastri that Leclerc may “struggle” on his out lap.

Russell has pitted behind Leclerc as well.

Lap 18: “My tires are gone,” says Norris.

Piastri is called in. “Box to overtake Leclerc,” as McLaren aims for the undercut which was so strong a season ago.

Lap 18: Verstappen has pitted for a set of hards and he comes out in P16, behind Hülkenberg.

Lap 17: McLaren has given Piastri the green light to chase down Leclerc. At the moment Piastri is 2.6 seconds behind the Ferrari.

Lap 15: Bearman and Ocon make pit stops. Colapinto and Hülkenberg are the only other drivers to have made stops.

Norris has reported that he is “struggling” with his tires, but he has also gotten back within DRS range of Russell.

Lap 13: Norris is still behind Russell and has faded out of DRS range. Is he starting to manage his tires for a potential one-stop, or is he thinking about another push later in this stint?

Lap 12: Hülkenberg has been given a five-second penalty for moving before the start.

Lap 11: Norris gets close, but not close enough. The longer he lingers behind Russell, the more his chances at a win fade.

Lap 10: Norris is within a half-second of Russell in front. He’ll probably make his move using DRS on the main straight at the end of this lap.

Lap 9: F1TV shows a replay of the moment where Hadjar is hit by a cloud of gravel. Running behind Bearman, the Haas driver dips into the gravel and Hadjar drives through the cloud. You can see the VCARB driver pull his left hand off the steering wheel as he reacts.

Lap 8: Bortoleto is cleared of a potential false start, and he remains up in P6 without fear of a penalty. Hülkenberg, who is still under investigation for his own potential false start, just delivered the fastest lap of the race down in P20.

Lap 7: Norris just posted the fastest lap of the race.

Hadjar reports to his team over the radio that his hand is “****ed,” after being hit with some gravel.

Lap 6: Bortoleto’s teammate Hülkenberg has also been noted for a potential false start.

Lap 5: Bortoleto is running in P6 but is under investigation for a potential false start.

Lap 3: Verstappen gets by Stroll with a daring move at the Turn 6 chicane for P7.

Lap 3: Using DRS, Norris gets by Alonso on the main straight to get into P4.

Lap 2: DRS is enabled and Norris needs to get back into P3 as quickly as possible.

Lap 1: Norris attacks to the inside off the start but Piastri closes the door, and Norris gets shuffled down to P5. Russell is up to P3 with Alonso into P4.

Pre-Race Notes

9:02: The top 11 drivers (Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Russell, Alonso, Stroll, Bortoleto, Verstappen, Lawson, Hadjar, and Bearman) are all on medium tires. Hamilton in P12 is the first driver on a different compound, as he is on the hards. Sainz is on the soft tire, as is Hülkenberg.

9:00: The Formation Lap is underway at the Hungaroring.

8:58: Of note, today is Verstappen’s 200th Grand Prix start with Red Bull.

8:54: On the F1TV pre-race show, Ruth Buscombe predicts a Piastri win, while James Hinchcliffe picks Norris. All three believe a combination of Norris, Piastri, and Leclerc will fill out the podium.

8:50: “This weekend has been very difficult for us,” admits Max Verstappen to Lawrence Barretto while walking to his RB21.

8:47: “I like our chances,” says Zak Brown on F1TV. “We’re gonna go for the win, that’s strategy number one.”

8:37: Speaking with Lawrence Barretto, Oscar Piastri sounds confident of taking the lead from P2 on the opening lap.

After all, he did just that in this race a season ago.

8:29: The reconnaissance lap is underway at the Hungaroring. The conditions are dry enough for the majority of drivers to be on the soft compound for this lap.