Hungarian GP 2025: Norris one-stops past Piastri and Leclerc

Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring on 3 August, 0.698 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, after starting third and falling to fifth on the opening lap. A switch to a one-stop strategy did the rest. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, while pole-sitter Charles Leclerc slipped to fourth after his Ferrari lost its pace in the final stint.

How Norris won with one stop

Leclerc kept the lead into Turn 1. Behind him, Norris went wide trying to get round the outside of Piastri, and both Russell and Fernando Alonso came past. He was back up to fourth by lap 3, but McLaren had already concluded that copying the leaders on two stops would not get him to the front.

So Norris stopped only once, on lap 32, for hards. The stop took 1.9 seconds, provisionally the quickest of the season, and left him 38 laps to cover on one set while Piastri and Leclerc stopped twice. Once the two-stoppers had made their final stops, Norris was leading and Piastri had the fresher rubber.

Piastri closed right up and tried a lunge on lap 69 that ended in a lock-up. Norris kept him behind to the flag. It was the closest winning margin of 2025 in a green-flag finish, and McLaren's 200th Grand Prix win, a mark only Ferrari had reached before.

Leclerc's afternoon went the other way. He had taken pole by 0.026 seconds from Piastri, Ferrari's first of the year, and had the race under control for 40 laps. After his second stop the car lost balance and grip, and he called it undriveable on the radio. Russell got past late on, and Leclerc collected a five-second penalty for erratic driving while defending against him. Ferrari suspected a chassis problem but had no firm explanation on the night.

The teammate duels in Budapest

McLaren. Piastri out-qualified Norris by 0.015 seconds; Norris took Sunday. Their head-to-head now stands at 7–7 in qualifying and 7–7 in races in our count. Fourteen rounds in, the same car has not separated them at all.

Ferrari. One SF-25 was on pole, the other 12th. Lewis Hamilton went out in Q2, called himself "absolutely useless" and suggested Ferrari might need a different driver. He finished where he started, a lap down, his worst Hungaroring result in 15 years. On F1 Duels, Hamilton vs Leclerc reads 4–10 in qualifying and 2–11 in races.

Aston Martin. Alonso and Lance Stroll locked out the third row, separated by 0.023 per cent of a lap with Alonso in front. Alonso then gave the team its best result of the season in fifth, with Stroll seventh. Alonso is now 13–0 up in qualifying this year and leads the race count 8–2.

Sauber. Gabriel Bortoleto reached Q3, started seventh and finished sixth, Sauber's best Hungaroring result since 2007. Nico Hülkenberg started 18th, took a five-second penalty for a false start and came home 13th. The rookie leads their qualifying count 8–6, and their duel is level at 5–5 in races.

At Mercedes, Russell's podium came with Kimi Antonelli tenth from 15th on the grid, after his best Q2 lap was deleted for track limits. Russell is 14–0 and 10–0 in that pairing.

What it means for the title

Piastri still leads the championship, but his margin over Norris is down to nine points going into the summer break. It was Norris's fifth win of the season and McLaren's seventh one-two. With the two level on both counts, the title fight is a teammate duel in the purest sense. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Hungarian GP duels page.