Five Takeaways: Hungarian Grand Prix
- Mia Wallace
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
For the last time before the Formula One summer break, the drivers assembled for a mid-season showdown in Budapest. While McLaren finally unlocked the pace they’ve been searching for all season, reliability issues and on-track quarrels ensured the Hungarian Grand Prix was anything but straightforward.
Here are DIVEBOMB’s five key takeaways from a chaotic weekend at the Hungaroring.
LN1 parks behind spot No.1
For the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2025, Lando Norris has returned to the top step in F1.
After weeks with no pace, reliability woes, and a 10-place grid penalty, the reigning world champion was finally able to prove why he currently has the No.1 on his car. The Briton was strong all weekend long, topping all three sessions of qualifying on Saturday and lining up in pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Norris’ blistering pace came as a surprise to many, as even though it was known that McLaren was bringing upgrades to Hungary, nobody could have projected just how strong those upgrades would prove to be.
Despite losing the lead early to his teammate during the Grand Prix, Norris proved across the entirety of the race that his pace was ultimately the strongest. As Oscar Piastri’s race started to come undone, Norris continued to power along, delivering dominant times lap after lap.
“My pace today was probably some of the best pace I’ve ever had,” he said after the race.
“The car was beautiful to drive, and I felt very confident, so a great race. I’m just happy to be back and see the number one again.”
With his win on Sunday, Norris joins the Ferrari pair as the only drivers outside of Mercedes to win a Grand Prix this season. Additionally, his pole-worthy qualifying session made him the only driver aside from the Mercedes drivers to start from pole position this season.
Piastri: Hero to zero
For one side of the McLaren garage, celebrations from the joy of a Grand Prix victory. On the other, devastation as one of their cars failed to see the chequered flag.
For Piastri, that devastation was imminent as he was forced to retire due to a gearbox issue. Before that, though, it was a rollercoaster race, as he found himself in contention for Grand Prix victory, even leading the race for a time.
How did he end up there, though? How were things going so well only for everything to fall apart?
Piastri started the race in third place, but with a strong start and a quick move on his teammate, he quickly took the lead of the Grand Prix. The Australian remained outside of his teammate’s grasp; however, his pace never quite got to that of Norris.
To make matters worse, Piastri struggled with tyre degradation, and ultimately opted for fresher rubber.
After the pit stop, things would only get worse for Piastri. Coming out into traffic, he struggled to get around the Williams of Carlos Sainz, who had been lapped and failed to adhere to the blue flag warnings. Because of this, Sainz ultimately impeded Piastri’s lap, making contact with his McLaren and costing him precious time to repass his teammate for the race lead.
Frustration for Piastri, but unfortunately things would only go from bad to worse. After losing time lap after lap, with the gap to Norris growing ever wider, Piastri ultimately had to park his McLaren because of a gearbox issue.
Battle of the backmarkers
One of the biggest headlines from the Hungarian Grand Prix? The backmarkers. Not your typical headline, but unfortunately, a few lapped cars made life extra difficult for the frontrunners this time around.
In one of the most notable moments of the race, Williams’ Sainz failed to adhere to the blue flags, cutting into Piastri, who was chasing down his teammate for the race lead. With a Grand Prix victory on the line, the contact from Sainz ultimately eradicated any chance of Piastri catching his teammate for the win.
“I wasn’t warned that Oscar [Piastri] was coming behind with a blue flag,” said Sainz after the race.
“Bad luck with the contact with Oscar.”
So, according to Sainz, just an unfortunate incident. For Piastri, though, the sentiment was glaringly different, and rightlyfully so.
“That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen on a race track,” said the Australian.
“I don’t really care what excuse he gave.”
In another incident, Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton were fighting to catch the rear of Max Verstappen; a crucial battle to determine who would finish on the podium.
Instead of getting a chance to battle properly, however, the pair got stuck behind Audi and the Racing Bulls, with the bunch-up almost causing a collision between Hamilton and Antonelli.
Antonelli wound up finishing third in the Grand Prix, but that on-track moment with the backmarkers did still cause tension during the race.
Verstappen cruises to second place
A strange weekend for Red Bull, and by extension, for their senior driver Verstappen, as he found himself on the podium despite having little to no pace.
After Saturday’s qualifying, it was pretty obvious that Verstappen’s Red Bull was nowhere near the pace of the cars ahead. However, things stacked up in his favour during Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Even though his speed couldn’t match the Ferraris or the McLarens, Verstappen was able to hold the Ferraris off defensively during the opening stint. Additionally, he was able to hold track position for second despite lacking pace and complaining about a plethora of issues.
When asked about the podium finish, Verstappen was shocked to say the least.
“I didn’t expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it,” he said.
“I think the start was decent to get through at Turn 1 and 2, then after the first stop to get back ahead of Lewis [Hamilton] under braking into Turn 1.
“Then it was just trying to survive on the [tyre] compounds, trying to make the right calls with strategy as well. I’m very happy to be second here, considering [everything].”
Lights out for everyone… except for Russell
George Russell is starting to become synonymous with bad luck, as once again his car was struck with technical issues.
After his DNF in Belgium, Mercedes assured the media that the troubles with Russell’s car had been assessed and solved. Still, we saw him continue to lose straight-line speed in comparison to his teammate in qualifying; the same problem he’d had the weekend prior.
On top of that, Russell’s car refused to bounce off the line at the start of the Grand Prix, with the team reporting that he antistalled. Russell tumbled all the way down to twentieth place, helpless as his rivals blustered past. The Briton was able to recover the places, getting him all the way back up to seventh position. A solid recovery drive, sure, but certainly not what Russell needed if he wants to fight his teammate for the title.
To make matters worse, Russell’s closest rivals in the championship, Hamilton and Antonelli, both finished ahead of him during the Grand Prix, with Antonelli finishing third and further extending his championship lead.
Russell goes into the F1 summer break trailing Antonelli by 59 points, and Hamilton by nine.
Looking ahead
With the Hungarian Grand Prix complete, F1 heads into its annual summer shutdown with plenty still unresolved.
Antonelli remains in control of the championship battle up front, but the other front-running teams are starting to close the gap quickly. With the next few weeks to rest and recover, the drivers will certainly have time to plan their next on-track moves.
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