Lando Norris’ victory gives McLaren its 200th win in Formula 1
McLaren boss Zak Brown hailed the team’s 200th Formula One win, with Lando Norris ahead of championship leader Oscar Piastri in a one-two finish in Hungary on Sunday, as close to perfect. The win was Norris’s fifth of the season and McLaren’s seventh one-two in 14 races, as well as the team’s fourth in a row. “You’re never perfect in a race, but I think that was as close to perfect as you can get,” Brown told Sky Sports television.
“The drivers were awesome, pit stops amazing, strategy was great to get Lando up there, Oscar drove brilliantly. I couldn’t be prouder of this racing team.” – McLaren boss Zak Brown
Norris and Piastri crossed the finish line 0.698 of a second apart, with the pair almost touching when the Australian tried to make a move on his British teammate on the penultimate lap and locked up. Team principal Andrea Stella said it had been ‘firm’ racing but also fair between rivals now separated by just nine points.
“We had a bit of a lock-up with Oscar, but at the same time, Lando left some space because he knew that Oscar would have been at the limit of braking. We keep being very proud of our Lando and Oscar for racing. I think this is a great way of honoring Formula One racing. These are the values of McLaren.” – McLaren Team principal Andrea Stella
Norris is not resting on his laurels following Hungarian Grand Prix win
Despite celebrating his ninth career win, Norris said he needed to improve because he was making life too hard for himself. He won from third on the grid, after dropping to fifth at the start and then making a one-stop strategy work with Piastri on two. The two drivers have been trading blows this season.
“It’s going to be a good and tough battle probably until the end. It takes a lot out of you trying to focus so much for every single session, race, everything. So, it’s going be a long second half of the season, I’m sure. There are those things I need to improve on and want to improve on. I’m not giving myself the best opportunities. Even though the results have looked great, I’m not making my life very easy for myself at the minute. So if I can work on those things, then I’ll be in a better place.” – Lando Norris
McLaren joins Formula 1 royalty following win in Hungary
McLaren are only the second team to chalk up 200 grand prix wins since the world championship started in 1950. Ferrari, yet to win this season, are on 248. Mercedes, next after McLaren, has 130. As the Formula 1 season heads into the summer break, McLaren is poised to become this year’s champions thanks to the efforts of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Once the break ends, the focus for McLaren will be continuing their fine form for the last few races in this year’s calendar. Come the end of the season, will it be Piastri or Norris on top of the table?
Coaches Database/Reuters
