Oscar Piastri wins in Hungary amid McLaren team order row; Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton clash
Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to claim his first F1 win after team order drama at McLaren, reports Lewis Larkam in Budapest.
Oscar Piastri beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris to claim his first F1 victory in a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix following a team orders row.
Piastri had led most of the race after snatching the lead at the start but was undercut by Norris during the second round of pit stops, giving McLaren a major headache. Norris was told on multiple occasions to give the position back to his teammate but initially protested.
Only on Lap 68, with three laps to go, did Norris finally abide the call as he slowed along the main straight to allow Piastri to catch up and reclaim the lead on the run into Turn 1.
Amid the celebrations surrounding Piastri’s maiden grand prix triumph, there will be questions to be asked internally at McLaren in the way the situation was handled by the British squad.
Behind the McLaren drama, Lewis Hamilton survived contact with old title rival Max Verstappen to claim his 200th podium finish at one of his favourite tracks.
Hamilton had been defending against Verstappen for the majority of the 70-lap in a battle to secure the final podium spot, but the pair collided on Lap 63.
Verstappen dived past Hamilton into Turn 1 but locked up and ran deep, with his rear-left tyre tagging Hamilton's front-right. The Dutchman came off worse and was sent airborne, before landing hard in the run-off area.
That dropped the world championship leader behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and down to fifth, where he finished.
Verstappen endured a hugely frustrating race and was left angered at the stewards for investigating him running wide at Turn 1 while fighting with the McLarens.
Verstappen got ahead of Norris but eventually handed the position back, after some protests, following an instruction from his team. The three-time world champion also complained about his car and fumed at Red Bull's strategy.
Carlos Sainz took sixth for Ferrari ahead of Sergio Perez, who recovered from 16th to take seventh.
Mercedes' George Russell, RB's Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll completed the top-10.
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