Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix - Budapest 2025
STARTING GRID:
1) LECLERC 2) PIASTRI 3) NORRIS 4) RUSSELL 5) ALONSO 6) STROLL 7) BORTOLETO 8) VERSTAPPEN 9) LAWSON 10) HADJAR 11) BEARMAN 12) HAMILTON 13) SAINZ 14) COLAPINTO 15) ANTONELLI 16) GASLY 17) OCON 18) HULKENBERG 19) ALBON 20) TSUNODA
LAP 1: Into the first corner, Leclerc maintained the lead of the race with Piastri behind him. Within the first few corners Lando Norris slipped down the other as he was passed by Russell and Alonso. Gabriel Bortoleto with a good start as well as he got past Lance Stroll into 6th place. Also Ollie Bearman with a good start in the Haas as he moved into the points places.
LAP 3: As the cars went down the pit straight, Norris was able to take back 4th place from Alonso. The pace of the McLaren made the move look easy for Lando as he was able to get the place back within 2 laps.
LAP 9: Despite being at the back of the pack, the day was made worse for Nico Hulkenberg as he was handed a 5 second time penalty for moving before signal at the start of the race. Replays showed that he did appear to be moving gradually forward in his starting position before the lights went out.
LAP 19 & 20: On lap 19 Oscar Piastri is told to “box to overtake Leclerc” in an attempt to undercut the Ferrari and take the lead of the race. However, Leclerc tried his best to get in the pits as soon as he could on the next lap as he even locked up on the pit entry to maximise his efforts to stay ahead. That was then aided by a 2.0 second pit stop by his pit crew to keep him safely ahead of Piastri as he rejoined the track over 2 seconds ahead of the Aussie.
LAP 25: Going into the first corner, Alonso went wide as Russell looked to move into 4th. Although Alonso managed to stay ahead, as they went to turn 2 Russell tried to go up the inside but there wasn’t a gap to go for. As a consequence Russell had to brake hard to avoid going into the back of the Aston Martin with millimeters in it before contact but he was able to avoid it.
LAP 26: On the next lap, Russell was able to get past the Aston Martin and move into 4th. He managed to make the move before the first corner and maintained the position, building a large gap in the laps to come.
LAP 29: The battle for 11th continued with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen close to making contact as Hamilton went off the road, which left the door open for Verstappen to make it past and into 11th. A drastically different battle from their fiery 2021 battles for the World Championship as this time it was much further down the order.
The incident was investigated after the race by the Stewards but no further action was taken against Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton did not go to the meeting for the incident, perhaps showing that he knew the outcome before it was even made.
LAP 32: Lando Norris finally made the first pit stop of his race with a quick 1.9 second stop from McLaren. The ideal scenario for Piastri would have been Lando staying out to hold up Leclerc in his pursuit of the win. However, McLaren have said many times that they will race for the best of both drivers which is exactly what they did in this situation.
LAP 41: Another tactic from McLaren as they gave the same “box to overtake Leclerc” message to Piastri. This led to Ferrari pitting Leclerc to cover the pit but McLaren went back into their garage when they saw he was pitting. Therefore a bluff to their rivals to see what they would do and try to get the upper hand. This then put Leclerc behind Norris.
On the same lap, Gabriel Bortoleto came into the pits and with help from his teammate he was able to stay ahead of Lance Stroll. The hold up from Hulkenberg helped Bortoleto but Stroll was able to get past the Sauber by turn 2.
LAP 45: A neat move from Kimi Antonelli to overtake Carlos Sainz going into the first corner. A late braking move from the young Italian may have caught Sainz by surprise, but with the late move into turn 1 he did also have DRS to help him stay ahead going into turn 2. A great move from the Mercedes driver to get back into the points places.
LAP 51: Following a pit stop for Piastri he found himself behind Charles Leclerc. However within 5 laps he was able to close the gap on the Monegasque driver at a remarkable rate as he was initially 12 seconds away from the Ferrari.
Leclerc tried his best to make it difficult for Piastri by moving to the inside line going into the first corner but the McLaren had no real problems moving past around the outside. Once again it seemed the race win was between the 2 McLaren drivers with Norris still ahead on a 1 stop strategy.
LAP 62: A frustrated Leclerc was on the radio to his team shortly after being passed by Piastri making his emotions known as he said “it would be a miracle if we get a podium”. In which he appeared to be right as he was closed in on by the Mercedes of George Russell in a matter of laps.
On the previous lap Russell had complained about moving under braking going into the first corner which almost caused the pair to collide. A near identical maneuver from Russell resulted in another desperate attempt by Leclerc as he moved again under braking.
This time Russell was able to make it past and into the podium places but he did let his thoughts known on the radio to the Mercedes pit wall. It was a move that would cost Leclerc a time penalty but it did not affect his race as he was too far ahead of Alonso in 5th.
LAP 68: The fight for the race win was well and truly alive as Piastri moved into the DRS length behind his teammate with time running out for the Aussie. The DRS was wide open for Piastri going down the pit straight as he got close. He appeared to try a move into turn 1 but moved too late and almost ended up colluding with Norris.
Thankfully for both drivers and the team a lock up from Piastri prevented this from happening but it was an extremely close call and will have had the McLaren pit wall and fans holding their breaths.
LAP 70: A reminder from the pit wall to Piastri of “remember how we go racing” with the last thing needed being a retirement for either or both drivers. The lock up cost him 0.44 seconds which ended up being crucial in his pursuit for the win as laps ran out.
As the pair went down the pit straight for the final time Piastri was slightly further behind and could not get close enough for an overtake attempt. He tried again into turn 2 but Norris had the attempts covered on both occasions.
With no more overtaking opportunities, Lando Norris was able to hold onto the lead and gave McLaren their 200th race win in Formula 1! A brilliantly controlled race from Lando Norris to make the 1 stop strategy work. Especially with the start that he had to come back and win the race was a phenomenal effort from the Brit.
It was unlucky for Oscar Piastri who ended up with the strategy that didn’t work to his advantage in the end but he was still able to finish behind his teammate and give a 1-2 finish to his team. Only 9 points now separated the 2 McLaren drivers as the Drivers Championship hots up as they go into the summer break.
A great drive from George Russell as he capitalised on the misfortunes of Charles Leclerc for the last podium place. His teammate Kimi Antonelli ended the race in the points places to give double points to Mercedes in a good recovery drive from the Italian.
A frustrating day for Ferrari and especially Charles Leclerc as he went from the highs of qualifying on pole to a potential win that quickly evaporated. An angry Leclerc was not happy as he was not able to finish on the podium either and had to settle for 4th. Another day to forget for Ferrari with Lewis Hamilton out of the points in a blow for their Constructors Championship hopes.
A great day for Aston Martin as they finished in 5th (Alonso) and 7th (Stroll). A real shift in their fortunes from the start of the season to now with consistent top 10 finishes for at least one of their drivers regularly now. They moved ahead of Sauber and look to be closing in on Williams in the Constructors Championship.
Another terrific performance for the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto as he finished 6th. A steady and maintained drive from the Brazilian who has also shown great consistency throughout the last number of races.
The Red Bull group would probably be underwhelmed with their performances over the weekend. A bad weekend for Max Verstappen as he was stuck around 8th position for almost the entire race but ended in 9th with his World Championship retention hopes seeming to fade more by the week. A relatively good result for Liam Lawson as he took 8th and was the highest Red Bull driver across the 2 teams.
A good race with entertainment from start to finish in regards to the top 10, podium places and the race win. The tension seemed to build throughout the race for who the winner would be but also for the podium places as Ferrari’s woes continued. Another 1-2 for McLaren as it appears to be their year to dominate. Aston Martin were another team to show strong intentions going forward. Overall a highly entertaining race from Budapest with thrills from the first lap to the last.
