McLaren drives the competition ahead

The Formula 1 World Championship race is wide open and only a case for the McLaren duo. The Orange team's dominance is crushing the competition one by one. The wind has shifted in Formula 1. While in May it looked as if Piastri was going solo, after 14 World Championship races it has become a do-or-die battle with Norris. Ten races and three sprints remain to be completed.

At the Hungaroring, McLaren celebrated its fourth consecutive one-two finish and its seventh of the year. Norris took a strategic gamble and opted for just one pit stop, ultimately crossing the finish line seven-tenths of a second ahead of Piastri. In the tire game, the Briton, who had often struggled with himself in the spring, had the luckiest hand this time. "Something like this is always a bit of a gamble, but you also can't make any mistakes, you have to drive good laps, have a good strategy, and so on. That's exactly what we achieved today," he explained after his ninth Grand Prix victory. Lando Norris is back in the fight for the World Championship. © ANSA / Zsolt Czegledi

When asked if momentum was now on his side, Norris said: "I think it's such a tough battle that it's hard to say if anyone has the momentum." It's tough racing against Piastri, he said, "but it's fun!" The duel on Sunday remained without any contact between the two – just what McLaren CEO Zak Brown would have liked. "It was great to see how hard but clean they drove. Now they're happy guys. They know what they're doing, they know our rules," said the American. "They're giving it their all, and that's exactly what we want to see."

299 points ahead Brown is also pleased with the current figures for the Constructors' Championship; after all, the Papaya team already has a 299-point lead over Ferrari. The MCL39 is the best car in the current Formula 1 fleet and is particularly well-suited for corners negotiated at low to medium speeds. Norris and Piastri's lead was striking in Hungary: George Russell in the Mercedes finished third, almost 22 seconds behind. McLaren team boss Zak Brown can be satisfied. © APA/afp / ANNA SZILAGYI

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had no chance, as he gradually lost power after the first round of pit stops due to technical problems and finished the race in fourth place. "From lap 40 onwards, we had a problem with the chassis, now I know more about it," said the Monegasque. In the cockpit, he had still blamed his team for mistakes. "In the car, of course, I had no idea what was going on." Lewis Hamilton in the other red car, who had described himself as "useless" the day before after a botched qualifying, found himself one lap down in 12th place.

Verstappen can only hope for a home race Formula 1 is now on hiatus for almost four weeks, with the races at Zandvoort on August 31st. For Max Verstappen, it will then be all about finding a way out of the slump in front of his Dutch fans. As expected, the world champion was not a factor in Hungary, finishing ninth. "Unfortunately, the entire weekend didn't go well for us, and we need to understand why that was," he said. The world champion hasn't finished on the podium in four consecutive races – something Verstappen last experienced in the 2018 season.

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McLaren drives the competition ahead

After a few unfortunate performances earlier in the season, some observers had already written off Lando Norris. But the Briton fought back and, following his victory in Hungary, is now only nine points behind his rival Oscar Piastri in the overall standings.

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