Lando Norris held off a late charge from team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix, bringing the title fight deficit back into single digits. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were put under investigation after a close call at Turn Four.
At the start, Leclerc defended his pole position well, but behind him, there was plenty of chopping and changing. Norris was attacking his team-mate on the run down to Turn One, but as the field shuffled through Turn Three, he dropped behind both George Russell and Fernando Alonso.
Norris quickly shuffled back past Alonso, but the Brit couldn’t find a way past Russell, who was splitting the McLaren drivers. Piastri, meanwhile, stalled out with a 2.5-second gap to leader Leclerc. He attempted an undercut on lap 20, but Ferrari covered the threat off comfortably.
With his team-mate and championship rival boasting the upper hand, Norris committed to a one-stop strategy, running long in an attempt to shake up the fight for victory. Meanwhile, Leclerc complained to his Ferrari engineers in a series of cryptic messages, with the Monegasque racer fearing losing the lead of the race.
Norris’ pace after his stop put him in the conversation for the race victory. The Brit set blistering lap times to close within 10 seconds of his team-mate, who ran long to generate a tyre offset for the final stint. Leclerc was allowed to make his stop uncontested.
When Piastri came out of the pits, the gap to his team-mate was 12 seconds, and he had Leclerc ahead to move aside. He dispatched of the Ferrari man with 19 laps remaining with an exceptional move around the outside at Turn One. From there, Russell stormed onto the podium after a hairy battle with the pole-sitter that had the Mercedes man screaming for a penalty on the radio.
For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express F1 newsletter, or join our WhatsApp community here.
The fight for a win roared into gear in the closing laps, but despite a handful of audacious lunges from Piastri, Norris stayed cool under pressure, delivering his fifth win of the campaign.
Hungarian Grand Prix results
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)