After resisting pressure to claim pole position during an intense qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lando Norris and his McLaren team know they must now deliver on their promise in a crucial moment on Sunday. Missed opportunities and small mistakes have been frequent and costly in recent races, but Oscar Piastri, in what is clearly the fastest car in the field, completed a McLaren front-row lock and Budapest felt It’s a must-win battle for Norris.
His pole position lap at the Hungaroring was excellent, chasing the time set by Max Verstappen, who ended up finishing third. Defeated. Aggressive and confident, hitting peak after peak, the 24-year-old was in arrogant form and finished more than three-tenths ahead of the Dutchman.
Piastri followed up Norris with similar promise in the second hot run, showing just how quick McLaren is, just a hundredth less than his team-mate two.
Norris and McLaren have shown excellent form on many occasions since their first win at the Miami Grand Prix. However, there were also instances of driver and team mistakes, with both sides throwing their hands up, costing him a potential win. He and McLaren will be acutely aware of the need for flawless execution on Sunday.
Norris was at peace with his performance, which was his first pole position in Hungary and the third of his career. A dynamic McLaren will also be reveling in their achievements in recent races. They haven’t taken pole position in Budapest since Lewis Hamilton did so in 2012 and haven’t won a race since Hamilton took the flag at the same event.
As Norris admitted, 84 points behind Verstappen in the championship with 12 races remaining, he and his team knew that if they were serious about pushing Verstappen to the finish line, They can no longer give up the opportunity to close the gap.
“We tried our best in every game, and I know we missed some games, but I don’t want to go back to those things,” he said. “I’d love to have a clean, solid weekend but I’m not looking forward to it, I’m looking forward to a tough race behind Oscar and Max.
“Everyone is important, trying to maximize every position, every point, and the more we can try to get back to Max and Red Bull, the better.”
Hungary presented a great opportunity, especially given that Verstappen was significantly off the pace and clearly unhappy with his car. This is doubly disappointing given that the team has quickly made significant upgrades to this race.
Verstappen stressed that the success of the upgrades will be crucial to the performance in the second half of the season, but he clearly believes they have not done enough and admitted that he cannot see a way to beat McLaren.
“this [upgrades] work, but we are still not number one, so we need more,” he said. “I’m happy with the laps but from a balance point of view everything is on the edge. I tried my best so you have very little time here and there. There will never be another great lap result. We A little slow, so we still have work to do, period.
McLaren’s performance in qualifying seemed hard to make up for. After a race halted twice due to crashes, Norris showed great composure in changeable, tricky conditions following early rain to complete one of the best laps he has ever completed.
In the first hot run of season three, with the track still dry, Verstappen looked good, fastest on every stage and perfect, breaking the record with a lap time of 1 minute 15.555 seconds. . Norris followed and charged, attacking the corners with formidable determination and setting a perfect lap of 1:15.227. Piastri proved to be faster in the closing laps and finished second, but Verstappen failed to improve and the race was stopped after Yuki Tsunoda crashed.
When the race resumed, nothing changed at the end as the final two minutes on old tires were fruitless. McLaren holds all the cards, but if they want to prove that this great old marque has restored its status as a championship contender, then they need to meet extremely high expectations.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton fifth, with teammate George Russell missing out in his first season.
In Q1, Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez again struggled, catching a curb, losing the rear at Turn Eight and crashing out of the car, halting the race.
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It was again disastrous for the Mexican, whose position at Red Bull was under threat due to a series of poor performances, particularly in qualifying. His contract was recently extended until the end of 2025 and is believed to have a performance clause, and it seems increasingly unlikely that Red Bull will be willing to tolerate his failure to deliver for longer. He set a time and finished 16th.
The break proved costly for Russell, with Mercedes choosing not to refuel the car until the end of the race, and the British driver was unable to take advantage of the break as the track dried out after the break, finishing 17th. Be eliminated.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished sixth, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished seventh and eighth, and RB Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third. Nine, and his teammate Tsunoda finished 10th.
Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen of the Haas Racing Team ranked 11th and 15th respectively, Valtteri Bottas of the Sauber Racing Team ranked 12th, and Alex Al of the Williams Racing Team ranked 12th. Ben and Logan Sargent finished 13th and 14th respectively. Sauber Racing’s Zhou Guanyu finished 18th, and Alpine Racing’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished 19th and 20th respectively.
