Lawson in the points at the Hungaroring
Words NZ Autocar | Images F1
It was another McLaren one-two, with Lando Norris holding off teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix. Meantime, Liam Lawson picked up more points, the third time in the last four Grands Prix, with another eighth place finish. He was the best placed of the Red Bull squad.
Norris won on a one-stop strategy to cut Piasti’s Formula One lead to nine points going into the summer break.
The Brit completed almost 40 of 70 laps on a single set of hard tyres while Piastri stopped twice. However, the Aussie managed to close a 12-second gap to just 0.6sec at the finish, with a nervy chase to the chequered flag.
Lawson was another to opt for a one-stop strategy and was able to hold off four-time world champion Max Verstappen to grab eighth place. It is the first time he has beaten the world champ who was suffering from tyre issues.
The Kiwi started ninth but got the better of Verstappen on the opening lap. However, the Dutchman returned the favour on lap two.
Lawson then went ahead again when Verstappen pitted a second time and was able to hold him off over the final quarter of the race.
His four points for finishing eighth takes his total to 20 and he is now 15th in the Driver’s Championship, just two points behind teammate Isack Hadjar who finished 11th.
Lawson has outperformed Hadjar over the past seven races.
The third podium placer was George Russell, the Mercedes driver 20 seconds down the road. It is his fifth podium finish of the season.
The win was also Norris’s fifth this year, and the third in his last four races. Piastri has six wins in 2025. It was McLaren’s seventh one-two this year.
Pole sitter, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, came home fourth, on a two-stop strategy. But he copped a five-second penalty for erratic driving when Russell was challenging.
Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin, ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Lance Stroll was seventh, Verstappen ninth and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top 10 scoring positions.
Lewis Hamilton, an eight-times winner in Hungary, had a weekend to forget, starting and finishing in 12th place for Ferrari.
The Briton was lapped by the leaders well before the chequered flag.
