McLaren Claim 200th Win With 1-2 In Hungary

The Hungarian Grand Prix ended in a one-two finish for McLaren, its fourth in a row and the sixth this season, its 56th in total. Lando Norris secured the team’s 200th win, second only to Ferrari on 248 on the all-time winners’ list.

Completing an all-anglophone podium in the fortieth edition of the race at the Hungaroring was George Russell, third behind Oscar Piastri. This was the Mercedes driver’s sixth podium finish of the season, the 21st of his career.

All three compounds were used in the race. On the starting grid, the vast majority of drivers (15) went with the Medium. The trio of Albon, Sainz and Hulkenberg chose the Soft, while Hamilton and Gasly opted for the Hard. In terms of strategy, drivers were pretty evenly split with ten going for a one-stop and nine pitting twice. The longest stint came courtesy of Esteban Ocon who did 55 laps on the Hard, while Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson went furthest on the Medium (40 laps) with Yuki Tsunoda completing 17 on the Soft.

Lando Norris – P1

“The perfect result today. 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. I knew our pace was good, even in the first stint behind George, 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.”

Oscar Piastri – P2

“It’s always frustrating to miss out on the win by such a small margin, but overall, another great result for the team. It’s easy in hindsight to say the one-stopper would have been quicker, but there was only a second in it, so it’s something we will review as a team. It was an entertaining and fun race all things considered, and the team executed well, especially on the pit stops. Now for a well-earned break, thanks to the team for all of their work so far this season.”

George Russell – P3

‘It’s great to be back on the podium. We’ve taken a step forward with the car this weekend, so it is a deserved reward for the hard work of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. It looked like we were on for a lonely P4, but we closed on Leclerc in the closing stages. The overtake itself was a little dicey; I committed to the corner, and he clearly moved under braking, for which he was given a penalty. Thankfully there was no harm done and we were able to take P3.

‘This result gives us encouragement heading into the summer break and we can look forward to the final 10 races of the year now with more confidence. We can’t get carried away as we didn’t expect to be in the top three this weekend. We know the competitive order behind McLaren is tight and we will need to be at our best to fight for podiums consistently in the second half of the season.’

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport

“The first part of the season came to an end with a very interesting race, with three drivers fighting for the win. In the end, victory went to Norris, beating team-mate Piastri by a whisker. The two McLaren drivers were on different strategies, the Englishman going for a one-stop, the Australian two. On paper the two-stop was quicker, but the cooler, by about ten degrees, temperatures compared to Friday free practice, slightly closed the gap between the two options, also in part because thermal degradation was reduced for all three compounds compared to what we saw two days ago. Honestly, we still felt the two-stop was best, you just need to look at the gap that Alonso built up, in fifth, compared to Russell. The exception was Norris, who opted to only stop once, after finding himself fifth after the opening lap. The small performance difference between the Medium and Hard along with the clear difficulty in overtaking with cars running pretty similar race pace, made it worth risking an unconventional strategy because at that point, he had nothing to lose.

All things considered, today we still managed to have a race in which different strategies were in play for the win, which made the second half of the race particularly exciting from a tactical point of view, even if not that spectacular in absolute terms.

Before we too go on the summer break following a very busy first part of the season, we still have one more task on track, here at the Hungaroring. On Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 August, we will run a test session aimed at 2026 tyre development. On the menu, validating constructions, as these must be homologated by 1st September and development of the softest compounds, especially from C3 to C5. Supporting us in this on the first day will be McLaren with Norris at the wheel and Racing Bulls with Lawson driving. On the second day Ferrari will run Leclerc, while Alpine is doing both days, the first with Aron at the wheel, the second with both Colapinto and Gasly.”

FORMULA 2

It was a one-two finish for Invicta Racing in the Feature Race, Leonardo Fornaroli winning from Roman Stanek. The Italian’s win was all the more impressive as he had to take a five second penalty during the race. It was his third win of the season, a first in a Feature Race. In third place was the American Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil).

On a track that was still a bit damp, but suitable for slick tyres, 14 drivers started on the Soft and eight on the Medium. The softer compound suffered from a bit of graining because of the lower temperatures this morning, but it helped drivers make up some places off the line. Pitting at the right moment was vital for everyone, in order to still have a good performance level in the closing stages.

Fornaroli is now on 154 points and increases his lead in the Drivers’ standings with Crawford moving up to second on 137. Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) drops to third on 135 points, while Luke Browning (Hitech TGR) is up to fourth on 125 and Alexander Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) rounds off the top five on 124 points.

FORMULA 3

Rafael Camara (Trident) was the Sunday star in Budapest. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student won the Feature Race and thanks to the 27 points he picked up today he also clinched the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship title. The race started on a wet track but it soon dried out. The Brazilian started from pole for what was a rolling start and then led all the way to the chequered flag, managing the race even though Spain’s Mari Boya (Campos Racing) was an almost ever-present threat. The third step of the podium was occupied by another student from the Maranello Academy, namely Finland’s Tuukka Taponen. Camara’s points total is now unassailable, even if there is still one more round to go in early September in Monza, as second placed Boya is 48 points behind.

The Cinturato Blue Full Wet tyre was put to good use, featuring a new tread pattern. In mixed conditions – the track was very wet at the start before drying out, at least on the racing line – the tyre behaved very well, providing plenty of useful data for future development, not just for this category of racing.