Lando Norris used a clever one-stop strategy to score McLaren’s 200th Formula One victory and the team’s seventh 1-2 finish of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris’ fifth win of 2025 moved him to within nine points of his teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers points as the series begins its four-week summer break.
The win punctuated a great comeback for Norris, who got a poor start from third and boxed himself in on the inside, losing two places to George Russell and Fernando Alonso on the opening lap. To counter the drop off the line, he boldly went long on his first stint and pitted 13 laps after his teammate in an attempt to pull off a one-stop for the win.
It worked and Norris held off a hard-charging Piastri to nip him at the line by 0.698 seconds. Mercedes driver Russell finished third, 21.916 seconds behind Norris.
“We weren’t really planning on the one-stop at the beginning, but after the first lap, it was kind of the only option to get back into things,” said Norris. “It was tough in the final stint with Oscar catching – I was pretty flat out. It was good and rewarding even more because of that. I didn’t think it [a one stop] would get us the win, I thought it would get us at least into second. I just knew that if I had clean air I could make it work.”
Piastri heads into the F1 break leading the championship with 284 points, followed by Norris in second with 275. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lies a distant third on 187. McLaren continues to run away with the constructors title, leading Ferrari by 299 points, 559-260.
While Piastri reeled in both the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and leader Norris late in the race, he couldn’t get the overtake done on his teammate. After Piastri made his second stop with 24 laps to go, he got past Leclerc at Turn 1, on Lap 51, then went on the chase of his teammate for the final 20 laps. He ended up settling for second.
“I pushed as hard as I could,” said Piastri. “I think after I saw Lando going for one, I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is much easier said than done around here. It was a gamble either way and unfortunately today we came out on the wrong side of it.”
Russell managed to pull off the overtake that eluded Piastri, getting past Leclerc in the closing stages to nab the final podium spot.
“I’m really happy with the race today; it was a good dice with Charles at one point,” said Russell, who had some choice words about Leclerc’s defending on the radio during the grand prix but tempered them in his post-race interview. “I think we made contact on the second time [I tried to pass] but just glad to get through it and it’s a nice way to go into the break.”
Further down the order, Canadian Lance Stroll hoped to convert his best qualifying of the year into points.
Like Norris, Stroll did a long opening stint on medium tires and used the one-stop strategy to bring his Aston Martin home in seventh and match his result from the British Grand Prix. Stroll’s teammate Alonso ended the day fifth, marking only the second time both cars scored points in the same race this year.
F1 now starts its summer break and returns Aug. 31 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
