Madness in Budapest. Disorder even as McLaren triumphed. Crazy exchanges of radio messages. And the big question: would Lando Norris cave in to team orders and sacrifice a victory that should have fired his world championship ambitions?
He eventually complied, but admitted afterwards that he considered challenging the others before slowing down with three laps to go to let his garage mate Oscar Piastri claim his first win. A joy for him.
Norris, perhaps rightly, acknowledged that it was the 23-year-old Australian and not himself who deserved the win. This was demonstrated by the start, when pole-sitter Norris dropped to fourth and Piastri took the lead, but enough about that first part of the race for now.
The story of the partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the Red Bull of the three-time world champion, which has been partially up in the air, will have to wait. The Dutchman was angry all afternoon and finished fifth, with his championship lead reduced to 76 points.
But let’s get to the big topic of conversation of this extraordinary race held on asphalt so hot you could have fried eggs on it.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Sunday afternoon
Piastri pictured celebrating his victory by waving to the crowd at the Hungaroring circuit
The drama escalated when Norris was called in on lap 45 of 70. He was second and Piastri was leading. He was given the undercut to cover Lewis Hamilton, who was close enough to be worried. Piastri stayed out for two more laps. This gave Norris a lead of about three seconds.
He was soon told to “restore order.” Then the needle began.
Coded messages were transmitted, and explicit messages too. It was a test of the 24-year-old’s ruthlessness, as well as his sporting sense. Would he move? Should he even? He was now the fastest of the papaya cars, and somehow he managed to build up a lead of more than five seconds.
He also had to think about the world championship: when will McLaren realise? It was he who started the day 84 points behind Verstappen, not 131 like Piastri. If he had been allowed to win, Verstappen’s lead would be reduced to 69 points with 11 races to go. Game on!
As Norris looked set to give in, his race engineer, Will Joseph, warned him to push harder. “You can’t win a world championship alone,” he warned. “The only way is to win it as a team.”
“You’ve made your point,” they told him as he continued his rampage.
But he eventually relented and slowed down on the pit straight. “You don’t have to say anything,” he said wryly.
What a strange day for McLaren. It was their first one-two in three years, they had incredible pace, they could see the Red Bull ship tilting, and yet these public displays of confusion.
Lando Norris finished second after being told to let his teammate pass at the end.
Australian Piastri took the checkered flag after a dramatic and controversial race
Norris’ team principal Andre Stella, responsible for much of the team’s recent improvements, a fabulous engineer and a decent man, said he never believed Norris would ignore instructions.
Later, sitting on the sofa at the press conference, Norris was more conciliatory than he had been in the cockpit, saying: “I didn’t give up the race win. I lost it at the start, so I didn’t deserve it.
‘Things will always go through your head because in this sport you have to be selfish. You have to think of yourself as the number one priority.
“But I’m also a team player, so my mind went crazy. I don’t think the team should have put me in that position.”
That seems fair. Why didn’t they bring in Piastri, the leader after all, a lap before Norris? Problems avoided. And why keep him out for two more laps, instead of one?
But Norris, who might have won the last five grands prix were it not for the annoying mistakes made by him and the team at crucial moments, must see little chance in the championship fight.
“The gap between Max and me is quite big, but if he and Red Bull make mistakes like today and as a team we continue to improve, we can turn the situation around.”
‘Yes, it’s a big goal to say that I can score 70 points in half a season, and then you think about the seven points I’ve dropped today, that’s definitely going through your head.’
Max Verstappen (left) and Lewis Hamilton (right) collided towards the end of Sunday’s race.
The collision caused three of Verstappen’s four wheels to temporarily leave the track.
Despite the collision, Hamilton (fifth from right) finished on the podium after finishing third.
Piastri (right) and Hamilton (left) pictured spraying each other with champagne on the podium
Drama dogged the afternoon even before the race started, with Norris complaining of a faulty throttle as he drove to the grid. Cue frantic repairs. And then the Hamilton-Verstappen crash on lap 63. That went before the stewards: there was no action. To me, if anything, it looked as if Verstappen had thrown the car out of the inside too hastily. He accused Hamilton of turning the wheel under braking.
There was also the case of Verstappen, who grew increasingly angry and complained about his failed strategy. He was right about that, although his temper was stronger than his tyres. His mood had darkened from the moment he went off the track at the first corner, three in a row.
“Okay, then you can just take people off the track,” he fumed. “You can tell the FIA that this is how we’re going to race from now on. Just by taking people off the road.”
Finally, Verstappen had not lost three consecutive races in two and a half years. He complained that he could not get his car to turn. Are the wheels falling off at Red Bull? If so, McLaren must keep a cool head.