Lando Norris rages as McLaren team orders gift Hungary GP win to Oscar Piastri
Norris initially ignored instructions to let teammate Piastri pass but he eventually relented
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Oscar Piastri claimed his first F1 victory in Hungary on Sunday after a dramatic ending as Lando Norris eventually succumbed to McLaren’s team orders.
Norris, who started on pole, lost first place to teammate Piastri at turn one of the first lap and Max Verstappen also overtook the British driver, although he did it off the track.
While Norris did get second place back from Verstappen, Piastri led the majority of laps before the second round of pit stops – when Norris took the lead from the Australian and extended his lead to around six seconds.
However, McLaren insisted that Norris give first place back to Piastri. But as the chequered flag neared, Norris refused despite some stern words from his engineer Will Joseph.
Joseph said: “I know you’ll do the right thing. Lando, 10 laps to go, just remember every single Sunday morning meeting we have.
“You’ve proved your point. We give the orders for the good of the team. I promise I’m trying to protect you.”
And with three laps to go, Norris eventually relented and allowed Piastri to pass, with the Australian going on to claim his first grand prix victory.
Norris, fuming under his crash helmet as he let his teammate through, told his engineer: “You don’t need to say anything.”
When Norris was asked about the team order after the race, the Briton regained composure and said: “The team asked me to do it so I did it and that’s it.
“An amazing day for us at the team, I’m so happy. It’s been a long way for us as a team. Congrats to Oscar, it was coming at some point and he deserved it today.”
Piastri added: “Very, very special. This has been the day I dreamed of as a kid. Obviously a bit complicated at the end. The car is fast, in every condition, today we had it under control.
“The longer you leave it [switching positions], the more you get nervous. It was well executed by the team and the right thing.”
It secured McLaren’s first one-two finish since Italy in 2021, when Norris finished second to Daniel Ricciardo in Monza.
Lewis Hamilton finished third after a crash with Verstappen late on. The Red Bull driver, irate over team radio for most of the race, finished fifth.
Norris complained of a failure with his throttle on his drive to the grid and his mechanics scrambled to resolve the problem in the minutes leading up to the race.
Norris was strapped in for the start but when the five lights went out he fell down the order. He aggressively swooped over to his right to defend from Piastri, allowing Verstappen to assume the racing line unchallenged.
As the trio slammed on the brakes for the first corner, they were line astern with Piastri taking the apex and the lead while Verstappen ran off the track. He came back on in second place and Norris was frantically on the radio demanding the stewards take action.
The incident was soon under investigation and Verstappen was advised by his Red Bull team to give the place back to Norris, which he duly did on lap four.
TOP-10 - HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
1. Oscar Piastri
2. Lando Norris
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Max Verstappen
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Sergio Perez
8. George Russell
9. Yuki Tsunoda
10. Lance Stroll
Norris and Piastri pitted for new tyres on lap 17 and lap 18 respectively while Verstappen, bemoaning the handling of his machine, was left out on lap 21, demoting him to fourth behind Hamilton.
On lap 35, Verstappen attempted to move back ahead of Hamilton but he ran off the road. “The thing just doesn’t f****** turn,” Verstappen said. “It is unbelievable.”
Norris headed into Sunday’s race 84 points behind Verstappen and a win would have allowed him to take a sizeable chunk out of the Dutchman’s lead.
He was called in for his second pit stop on lap 45, to cover off Hamilton, while Piastri stopped two laps later. When it all shook out, Norris emerged at the head of the field before he was told to “re-establish the order” by the McLaren pit wall.
At one stage, it looked certain that Norris would ignore the order, before Joseph pleaded with him to trade positions on numerous occasions.
“We know you will do the right thing,” said Joseph before he added: “The way to win a world championship is with a team and you are going to need Oscar and you are going to need the team.” Joseph added: “You have proved your point.”
Norris slowed down on lap 68 with Piastri moving ahead as McLaren landed their first one-two finish in nearly three years.
Hamilton followed up his win at Silverstone a fortnight ago with another podium after he drove well to keep Verstappen at bay.
Verstappen, who described Red Bull’s strategy as “s***”, passed Leclerc for fourth, but as he attempted to get ahead of Hamilton at the opening corner he braked too late and made contact with his one-time rival’s Mercedes.
Hamilton maintained third, but Verstappen dropped back behind Leclerc for fifth. Verstappen’s lead over Norris stands at 76 points ahead of next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Additional reporting by PA
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