Hungary Grand Prix: Norris poker is on: 200. Formula 1 victory for McLaren

Lando Norris was very nice about his successful strategy trick and the 200th victory for McLaren in Formula 1. In the tactic poker of Hungary, the Briton defeated his stable rival Oscar Piatri because he did less with a tire change, and thus raised a few dots in the banging title two. “I’m really dead, that was really hard. We hadn’t actually planned it that way, it was a gambling,” said Norris.

Due to his venture with the tires, the 40th Grand Prix remained exciting on the Hungaroring until the final round. A final overtaking attempt by the pushing Piatri went wrong, almost both would be collided. “I just tried it, I don’t regret anything,” said the Australian World Cup leader.

Third finished Mercedes driver George Russell. The Ferrari star Charles Leclerc, launched by the pole position, had to be satisfied with fourth place after a long lead and scolded the radio on the radio about Scuderia tactical errors.

Time penalty for Hülkenberg

Another disappointment was for world champion Max Verstappen. His 200th run in a Red Bull the Dutch only ended as ninth and missed the podium for the fourth time in series. “We have to be happy that we were not being overcome,” said Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko at Sky. As the third overall ranking, Verstappen is already 97 points behind Piatri and 88 points behind Norris.

Nico Hülkenberg also experienced a Hungary trip to forget. Started from far back, the clean pilot acted a five-second penalty because of a false start and said goodbye to the summer break as 13th. The race in Zandvoort will only continue at the end of August.

Leclerc completely unexpectedly in the pole position

Quite surprisingly, Leclerc had conquered the best starting place in the qualification after the McLaren had previously dominated all the training. It was the first pole position of the year for the 27-year-old and the Scuderia, and Leclerc itself was completely amazed.

All the more bitter, this success for the second Ferrari pilot: Lewis Hamilton. After his disappointing journey, the world champion described himself as “absolutely useless” and recommended Ferrari in the first frustration: “You probably have to exchange the driver.” Place twelve at the finish, especially not improved his mood.

At the beginning of the race, team companion Leclerc made the best out of his starting advantage and confidently defended the lead into the first curve. Norris attacked his stable rival Piatri from third place, but did not come by and instead had to let Russell and Fernando Alonso pass in the Aston Martin. Alonso soon caught the Brit, but as fourth after the first rounds, Norris was one of the starting losers.

Fastest tire change of the season

At the top, Leclerc initially held his pursuer Piatri at a distance. Even after the first tire changes, the Monegasse retained its small cushion on the World Cup leaders. Nevertheless, he already complained to the box radio that the racing tactics at Ferrari had apparently not been sufficiently discussed in advance. “We lose the race in this way,” he scolded – and should be right.

At that time, Norris circled in first place, the World Cup second pushed out his pit stop and relied on a strategy with just one tire change. When he finally drove up on the garage after 31 laps, his mechanics managed the fastest tire service in the season in 1.9 seconds. Fourth, Norris started hunting again and was back ahead after the second stops of his competitors.

Verstappen team further in the form low

Unusually far behind fought defending champion Verstappen for connection. Violent balance problems on his Red Bull had annoyed the Dutch all weekend. When he arrived at Hungaroring, Verstappen had cleared all doubts about another future at Red Bull. The continued weakness of his team should continue to prepare the top star.

Verstappen only caused a sensation in the race once when he overtook Hamilton in a tough duel. The Ferrari driver had to switch to the run-out zone to avoid a collision.

Otherwise, however, the Hungarian guest game remained more real spectacle, as is often poor. In the final phase, the question arose above all whether the Norris poker would open. Piatri left the more scolding Leclerc behind and caught up on his team rival for a second, but couldn’t avoid.