Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, benefiting from a mid-race incident and a late mechanical failure that struck down his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris started from pole but ran wide at the second corner, named after Lewis Hamilton, allowing Piastri to take the lead. Piastri held track position despite Norris applying pressure, and it appeared the Australian was on course for victory.
The race turned on lap 38, when Piastri, who had already made his second pit stop, tried to work back through traffic to reclaim the lead. Williams driver Carlos Sainz was battling Fernando Alonso for 15th place directly in Piastri's path and did not yield to blue flags. The two cars made contact.
"Get out of the f***ing way, you idiot," Piastri said over the radio. "Oh, my God!"
The delay allowed Norris to build an advantage. When Norris pitted at the end of the following lap, he emerged ahead of Piastri.
Piastri's race engineer, Tom Stallard, tried to calm him on the radio: "Oscar, it's Sainz that cost us. Target is to get to the end on these tyres."
"Oh, mate, just don't talk to me now," Piastri replied. "Nice of you guys to factor that one in by the way, thanks."
Piastri's race ends early
Piastri, running second, retired on lap 56 of 70 with a gearbox problem. His exit triggered a virtual safety car and handed Norris the win without further challenge, his first victory since the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last November and the first of his title defence.
The virtual safety car period created fresh drama further back. Hamilton, who had moved into third after Piastri's retirement, pitted along with Norris. He emerged from the pits level with Kimi Antonelli and passed him into and out of the first corner, but the move was later ruled illegitimate.
Hamilton was placed under investigation for allegedly speeding in the pit lane and was given a five-second penalty. "They are handing out penalties like crazy," Hamilton said, though he later softened his criticism of the stewards.
Norris took the chequered flag first, with Max Verstappen second after choosing not to stop under the virtual safety car, and Antonelli third. Hamilton's penalty dropped him below team-mate Charles Leclerc, leaving him fifth.
Hamilton had started the race already demoted three places after being penalised on Saturday for blocking Piastri in qualifying. Rather than closing to within six points of Antonelli's championship lead, as he could have done before Piastri's retirement, Hamilton fell five points further back. He now trails Antonelli by 50 points heading into the sport's summer break.
Russell fights back from early trouble
George Russell finished seventh, leaving him 59 points behind Antonelli, nine points worse off relative to his starting position for the race. Russell dropped to 19th on the opening lap after anti-stall triggered on his Mercedes at the start, but recovered through the field with the help of a new engine fitted after qualifying.
"I am past the point of disappointment now," Russell said with a resigned smile. "If I continue to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I'll be disappointed every day of the week. My pace was as strong as anyone out there, and I haven't been there for the past two or three races, so I will take the positives there. But it is unbelievable the list of things that have gone wrong this season."
Russell said he was on the throttle holding the revs before the start when, four seconds before the lights went out, the engine began revving erratically and stopped reacting to the throttle. "It is a brand new engine. No idea," he said.
Overtaking was limited elsewhere, though Verstappen produced a pass on Hamilton at the first corner, named after Nelson Piquet, catching the Briton by surprise. Norris eventually pulled clear to win by 15 seconds.
