Norris grabs first race win of season in Hungary

World champion Lando Norris claimed his first win of the season and 12th of his career with a resounding triumph for McLaren ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Sunday’s helter-skelter Hungarian Grand Prix. The 26-year-old Briton, who started from pole position but had to recover after a poor opening lap, came home 15 seconds clear of four-time world champion Verstappen with world championship leader Kimi Antonelli finishing third for Mercedes. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton ended up fourth and fifth ahead of Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull, George Russell in the second Mercedes and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. Nico Huelkenberg scored his first points of the season in ninth place for Audi ahead of rookie Arvid Lindblad in the second Racing Bulls. Norris repeated his success last season at the Hungaroring where McLaren have won for the last three years. Antonelli’s determined drive, in a frantic race of divergent tyre strategies, lifted him 50 points clear of Hamilton in the championship. “Beautiful,” said Norris on team radio. “The car was unbelievable today! Flying! “It’s probably the best pace I’ve ever had,” he said “This track is good for us.” Verstappen was critical of his car, but happy to claim another podium finish. “I didn’t expect it today – we had to work very hard for this,” he said. Antonelli said it had been a hard race. “It was so tough to overtake, but it is the best result for me to go into the break and now we can keep pushing.” The race began in scorching heat with the highest temperatures of the weekend – 31 Celsius (air) and 51 (track). Ferrari gambling on soft tyres for the start while all the started on mediums. Oscar Piastri made a fast start to pass Leclerc. When Norris went wide at Turn Two and Piastri took the lead while Hamilton passed Leclerc for fourth behind Verstappen. Behind them, the luckless Russell’s Mercedes went into anti-stall on the grid. He fell from from sixth to 20th while team-mate Antonelli advanced to sixth. Hamilton attacked Verstappen without success and by lap 10 was losing grip. “Max is slow,” reported Hamilton, who pitted to ‘undercut’ Verstappen on lap 14, rejoined 10th and stormed past Lindblad before Red Bull brought the Dutchman in on lap 15. Verstappen came out behind Hamilton, but regained his place with a lunge down the inside at Turn One. Piastri pitted from the lead, followed by Leclerc. It was frantic stuff and when Norris came in, Antonelli took over as leader. When the the Italian pitted, he returned in sixth. Piastri led folowed by team-mate Norris. The Briton requested a stop but McLaren brought in Paistri first. Gearbox problems At halfway, Norris led Verstappen by five seconds. The Briton then pitted from the lead on lap 40 and returned in third, ahead of Piastri, the Australian having narrowly avoided a heavy collision with Carlos Sainz’s Williams at Turn Two where they clashed. Sainz was given a five-seconds penalty. After Verstappen pitted again, Antonelli led with Norris in pursuit. Norris, on fresher tyres, regained the lead on lap 46 with a dive inside the young Italian at Turn One and built his advantage before Antonelli stopped again. Hopes of a McLaren 1-2 ended when Piastri slowed and retired with gearbox problems and a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed. Norris, Hamilton and Leclerc pitted for softs immediately. In a final flurry, Norris led Verstappen with Antonelli third, fending off Hamilton – penalised five seconds for speeding in the pit lane. The post Norris grabs first race win of season in Hungary appeared first on The Namibian.

Norris grabs first race win of season in Hungary

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