Munich [Germany], July 27: Lando Norris claimed his first victory as reigning Formula One world champion on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix while his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri met disaster and fancied Ferrari missed the podium.
Norris was passed for the lead by Piastri in turn two of the opening lap but he got it back via the second round of pit stops because Piastri was almost shunted off when trying to lap the Williams of Carlos Sainz after his stop.
Piastri fumed but it got even worse for him when he had to retire with a gearbox problem in lap 56 of 70.
Norris was untroubled up front and claimed McLaren's first season win ahead of ex-champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull and championship leader Kimi Antonelli who kept Mercedes' perfect podium record for the season intact.
Charles Leclerc was fourth for fancied Ferrari ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton who was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
"I'm just happy to be back and see the number one again," Norris said.
"We know this track is a good one for us, probably one of my best suited track of the year. This is maybe as good as it can look for now, but I certainly believe we can still win races.
"I knew it was coming. The team have put so much work in to make a car that can finally win again. It's nice to be able to do it for them."
Hamilton and Antonelli both had to serve three-place grid penalties which saw them start from fifth and seventh, respectively, instead of second and fourth.
Antonelli increased his championship to 50 points ahead of Hamilton and is 59 clear of George Russell in the second Mercedes into the four-week F1 summer break.
"Of course I'm very happy and it's the best way to go into the summer break. I think today was big damage limitation and we've got to keep pushing because the second half is going to be hard, but we'll try our best," Antonelli said.
Norris led from pole into turn one but was then swiftly passed on the inside in turn two by Piastri who shot from third to first while Leclerc went the other way from second on the grid to fifth in a poor start.
George Russell meanwhile met disaster and dropped to 18th, apparently because his Mercedes went into anti-stall. He eventually recovered to finish seventh.
Hamilton desperately tried to get past Verstappen on a course where overtaking is difficult, in order not to fall too far behind the McLarens, who slowly started to pull away.
Ferrari acted and pitted Hamilton early after lap 13, with Verstappen following a lap later but the undercut worked as Verstappen returned behind his rival - only for the old order to be restored when Verstappen sensationally moved ahead again on the inside.
"I saw the opportunity. It was my only one. I just went for it. We're good on the brakes, so that helped, but it was all under control," Verstappen said.
It added to the spice that Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar slowed down the McLarens for a while after their pit which brought the top four close together until Hadjar also pitted.
The McLaren order however changed after the second round of stops because backmarker Sainz almost shunted Piastri off when being lapped.
There was contact and the incident helped Norris move ahead of Piastri after his stop a few laps later. Piastri's agony was complete wehen he had to retire a little later.
That brought out the virtual safety car under which Verstappen didn't pit but Norris and Hamilton did. Hamilton returned side by side with Antonelli but it soon emerged that Antonelli was just ahead going over the safety car line and Hamilton handed the place back.
Stewards then also ruled that the seven-time champion Hamilton had been speeding in the pit lane at the late stop, and the penalty dropped him to fifth although he finished ahead of Leclerc.
Elsewhere, Nico Hülkenberg in ninth place earned his first points of the season for Audi.
Source: Qatar Tribune
