Thanks to the victory, and the fourth consecutive double of McLaren, the Briton now adds 275 points in the championship, against 284 of Pistri; Brazilian got his best result in his debut season
The Briton won the Hungary Grand Prix on Sunday (3) at the Hungaroring circuit, coming to the front of his McLaren companion and rival for the leadership of the Australian Pilot World Cup. Thanks to the victory, and the fourth consecutive double of McLaren, Norris now adds 275 points in the championship, against 284 of Pastri.
Also British George Russell (Mercedes) completed the podium, while Monegasco Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who started from pole position and led much of the race, ended up fourth. The fifth was Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). “I’m dead. It was hard. I wasn’t planning just one stop, but after the first lap, it was our only chance to win,” said Norris, who won McLaren’s 200th victory in F1.
“I forced as much as I could and knew that if I wanted to exceed it, it would have to be in Curve 1, because it is difficult to overtake here,” said Piostri, who was not surprised by the teammate’s strategy: “Lando didn’t have much to lose” after the start.
Bortoleto in sixth
The Brazilian (Sauber), who started from seventh position, finished the race in sixth and got his best result in his debut season at F1. This was the third time that the pilot ended in the scoring zone (in the top ten) in the year, after the eighth place in the Austria GP, just over a month ago, and the ninth place in the Belgium stage last week. With the result in Hungary, the 20 -year -old Brazilian has eight points in the classification and reaches 14, being in 17th position of the Pilot World Cup.
Strategy decides
At the start, Leclerc maintained the first position, followed by Pastri. Norris, who came out in third, was eventually surpassed by Russell and Alonso. After the first five laps, Leclerc had two seconds advantage over Pastri and the Australian was a second and a half ahead of Russell, while Norris had already recovered fourth after overcoming Alonso, who also made only one pit stop.
Halfway through the race, Ferrari’s Monegasco kept a two -second difference compared to Pastri, but Leclerc warned by the radio that the team’s strategy was wrong: “We are wasting a lot of time, let’s lose the race.”
Norris’s strategy was confirmed as the right one, as the Briton took advantage of Leclerc’s second stop to take the lead in just over 20 laps to the end. And Leclerc’s bad omen was confirmed: Monegasco not only lost first position, but was also out of the podium.
The last laps were from a fierce battle among McLaren riders. Piostri, with newer tires, went hunting Norris and the two almost touched on the penultimate lap, which led the team to ask both to take no more risks, allowing the Briton’s victory. The next stage of the Formula 1 World Cup will be the Netherlands GP at the Zandvoort circuit on the weekend of August 30 and 31.
Formula 1 Hungary Grand Prix classification
1. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1h35:21.231
2. Oscar Piatri (from/McLaren-Mercedes) +0.698
3. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) +21.916
4. Charles Leclerc (Mon/Ferrari) +42,560*
5. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) +59.040
6. Gabriel Bortoleto (bra/sauber-ferrari) +1: 06.169
7. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) +1:08.174
8. Liam Lawson (NZL/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) +1:09.451
9. Max Verstappen (HOL/Red Bull) +1:12.645
10. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes) +1 time
11. Isack Hadjar (FRA/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) +1 volta
12. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari) +1 time
13. Nico Hülkenberg (Ale/Sauber-Ferrari) +1 Volta
14. Carlos Sainz (Esp/Williams-Cercedes) +1 time
15. Alexander Albon (Tai/Williams-Mercedes) +1 Volta
16. Esteban Ocon (Fra/Haas-Ferrari) +1 time
17. Yuki Tsunoda (Jap/Red Bull) +1
18. Franco Chamentent (Arg / Alpine-Renault) +1 Again
19. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) +1 volta
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
