2025 F1: Norris holds off Piastri to win Hungarian GP

Lando Norris made the alternative one-stop strategy work to win the Hungarian GP. In what is the closest finish so far this season, Oscar Piastri finished just 0.698 seconds behind his McLaren teammate Norris. Mercedes’ George Russell passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to clinch the final spot on the podium.

With this result, Norris cuts Piastri’s championship lead to just nine points heading into the summer break.

1. Norris wins, 0.698sec ahead of Piastri
2. Russell on podium
3. Alonso finishes P5 for Aston Martin

F1: Lando Norris wins Hungarian GP

McLaren scores 200th F1 win

It was a poor race start for Norris, with the McLaren driver losing two places off the line. While Leclerc and Piastri pulled away out at the front, McLaren decided to take a gamble on Norris and switched him to a one-stop strategy. This decision worked in Norris’ favour, and he was leading the race after the second round of pit stops.

Armed with fresher tyres, Piastri quickly closed the nearly 10-second gap to Norris ahead. However, despite several attempts, he was unable to find a way past, allowing Norris to secure his fifth win of the season. This also hands McLaren its 200th F1 race win, making it only the second team to achieve this feat after Ferrari.

“Another 1-2 and I’m really pleased to win the 200th Grand Prix for McLaren. It means a lot to me, and it’s even more rewarding because it was a tough race. We weren’t planning on the one-stop at the beginning, but after the first lap, it was the only option to challenge the cars around us,” said Norris.

“I knew our pace was good, even in the first stint behind George [Russell], so I knew I could push in clean air. It’s always a gamble, but it also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy and good pit stops, and that’s what we had today. Credit to Oscar, who put up a good charge. I look forward to plenty more of these after the summer break."

F1 Hungarian GP: Russell beats Leclerc for P3

Aston Martin secures double points finish

After taking a surprise pole position, Leclerc led a good chunk of the Hungarian GP. However, his pace dropped off in the second half of the race. Russell eventually caught and passed Leclerc for third place. Adding to the Ferrari drivers’ frustration, he was handed a five-second time penalty for driving erratically during his battle with Russell.

Speaking after the race, Leclerc revealed his sudden drop off was caused by a chassis issue. On the other side of the Ferrari garage, it was a challenging weekend for Lewis Hamilton as well. The seven-time F1 world champion qualified down in P12 and ended up finishing in the same position.

“It’s been a challenging weekend and one to move on from. We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for, but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend,” said Hamilton. “Now we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge and come back stronger. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over – don’t count me out.”

Aston Martin secured its best result of the season so far, with Fernando Alonso finishing P5 and Lance Stroll P7. Gabriel Bortoleto split the two in sixth place, continuing Sauber’s impressive points-scoring run.

Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson finished P8, followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Kimi Antonelli secured the final point for Mercedes.

2025 F1 championship standings

Piastri still leads the standings, but Norris has reduced his advantage to just nine points. Verstappen holds on to third place overall. However, the Red Bull driver is well off the top two, and Russell is now just 15 points behind him.

F1 now heads into its summer break, and racing action will resume with the Dutch GP on August 29-31.

2025 Hungarian GP results