What should have been a Sunday of celebration for McLaren at the Hungarian Grand Prix felt somewhat subdued.
Oscar Piastri picked up his first career grand prix victory and McLaren earned their first 1-2 finish in three years but there was no crowd-surfing celly this time.
Instead it was a bit of a sour taste as Lando Norris conceded a six-second lead and stepped aside with only two laps to go to hand his teammate his maiden win.
It was a nightmare scenario manufactured entirely by McLaren.
Piastri darted ahead of Norris right at the start of the 70-lap race as the pole-sitter tried to defend his teammate as well as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third place. Norris ended up losing out both battles and dropped to third as Verstappen ran off the track to gain an advantage, which ultimately forced him to give the place back.
The controversy came during their second round of pit stops as Norris boxed first to ditch the fading hard tires for mediums — and cover off the threat of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in third place — but ended up undercutting Piastri in the process. Norris cycled into the lead after Piastri pitted a couple laps later and suddenly McLaren had a PR disaster on their hands.
The team pleaded with Norris to switch spots to no avail. Instead, Norris doubled his lead from roughly three seconds to six. Basically, if Piastri wanted to win, he was going to have to earn it. McLaren didn’t budge from their plan though and Norris relented, eventually, but had the damage already been done?
“The team asked me to do it, so I did it,” was all Norris offered when asked after the race by Sky Sports F1 commentator Nico Rosberg.
Considering Norris is second in the drivers’ championship and had a golden opportunity to close the gap to Verstappen, who finished fifth, it was in his best interest to push for the win.
Team orders are nothing new in the sport, none more infamous than the 2002 Austrian GP when Ferrari ordered Rubens Barrichello to gift Michael Schumacher the win. We’ve also seen it go the other way even at this very race as Hamilton ignored team orders from Mercedes to let Rosberg pass during the 2014 Hungarian GP.
Norris could have gotten greedy, but it wouldn’t endear him to those who sign his paycheques (or handle his e-transfers).
In a strange coincidence, the last time McLaren qualified 1-2 was the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and their driver who started second (Jenson Button) ended up finishing first. Or maybe it’s just Rosberg’s winning prediction curse striking again.
MCLAREN CLOSING IN ON VERSTAPPEN
Regardless of how the 1-2 finish played out, the day was massive for McLaren in their championship chase for Verstappen, er Red Bull Racing, in the constructors’ standings.
McLaren (338 points) leapfrogged Ferrari for second place and are now just 51 points back of Red Bull (389 points).
It seemed like a pipe dream anyone would come close at the start of the season with Red Bull dominating out of the gate, but here we are as Verstappen has come down to earth and is basically fending off McLaren by himself while teammate Sergio Perez has struggled.
Verstappen scored pole position through the first seven races of the season, but the three-time reigning world champion has been on pole just once through the six races since then.
We’ve also had seven different winners this season, compared to only three last year, and it could well be eight knowing Perez has a capable car.
Verstappen has seven wins and continues to hold a significant lead in the drivers’ championship, but he also accounts for roughly 68 per cent of his team’s points. Compare that to McLaren where it’s a 56-44 split between Norris and Piastri.
HAMMER TIME
It’s like 2021 all over again between Hamilton and Verstappen. OK, maybe not quite to that extent but there were shades of 2021 as the two battled it out on the track once more.
Hamilton undercut Verstappen during his first pit stop and managed to hold off his rival as the Dutch driver attempted to overtake on Lap 35 but overcooked and went off the track.
Verstappen, who also complained about brake issues, closed the gap again and dove on the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 63 only to lock up and collide with Hamilton with the rear of his car flying airborne — as if the McLaren 1-2 finish wasn’t giving enough 2021 Monza vibes.
That not only cost Verstappen a shot at the podium but also his present position as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc snuck through and up into fourth place.
Hamilton finished third to claim his milestone 200th career podium and become the first driver to reach the mark as the legendary Schumacher is a distant second at 155. Another wild stat: Hamilton has finished on the podium in 58.14 per cent of races he’s entered.
Guess who’s also moving on up? It was the third podium in the past four races for Hamilton, who climbed from eighth to sixth in the drivers’ standings.
PIT STOPS
• It’s a good thing Piastri was holding on to the trophy when Norris did his champagne smash after what happened last year.
• Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell salvaged a disastrous qualifying performance starting 17th on the grid to not only finish eighth but also claim the fastest lap bonus point with his time of one minute, 20.305 seconds on Lap 55. The Summer of George continues.
• Slow speed corners and a track referred to as “Monaco without walls” should have played right into Ferrari’s hands. Carlos Sainz lucked out in qualifying as he failed to cross the line in time to make a final strike for pole and started fourth. Sainz then lost two places after the start falling behind Hamilton and Leclerc into sixth but held steady from there.
• Speaking of Hamilton and Leclerc, future Ferrari teammates, who doesn’t like puppy content?
• If you want to feel old, Piastri (b. April 6, 2001) is the first driver born in the 21st century to win a grand prix.
• We’d say maybe Verstappen shouldn’t stay up late the night before playing video games, but for this writer, that would be a case of do as I say and not as I do.