Oscar Piastri heads into the F1 mid-season break stewing on a split strategy call that saw title rival and McLaren teammate Lando Norris trim his lead to just nine points.
The 25-year-old Briton finished the Hungarian Grand Prix just 0.698 seconds ahead as they crossed the line to secure the team’s 200th victory in Formula One and record 13th in Hungary.
“I’m dead!” said Norris, who had switched to a one-stop strategy — something of a Hail Mary call after a poor opening lap — and then battled to resist Piastri’s attacks in the closing laps.
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The attacks included a dramatic move at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap, that saw Piastri lockup and narrowly avoid rear-ending his teammate.
“Remember how we go racing. Same reminder, Oscar,” Piastri was told by his pit wall after the near-miss.
Piastri had stayed with his two-stop strategy and had a tyre advantage, but on the tight and technical Hungaroring track found it impossible to pass his teammate.
Piastri, who was within a second, said: “I pushed as hard as I could. I saw Lando going for a one (stop) so I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is easier said then done around here.
“I tried a few things, but it was a gamble either way and, unfortunately, we were just on the other side of it.”
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Piastri questioned his team’s decision to try to ‘undercut’ pole sitter and early leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the early stages of the race.
“Going into the race, we thought a two-stop was the best thing to do,” Piastri said post-race.
“In clean air potentially it still was, but… having a two-stop race in clean air versus dirty air is a different story.
“So it’s very easy now to say that a one-stopper was the way to go, but, you know, one second different and the answer would be very different.
“So yeah, some things to analyse with the team, but overall I thought it was a good day.”
Asked if he was surprised Norris was on a one-stop, he said: “Yes and no. At that point, he didn’t have much to lose, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.
“I don’t know if trying to undercut Leclerc was the right call in the end. We can go through it after.”
Piastri also spoke about his all-or-nothing move on the penultimate lap, saying that he felt like it was “going to be my best chance” to overtake.
“You never want to try and save it for the next lap, then it never comes, so I thought I would at least try..not quite,” he said.
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For McLaren’s part, team chief Zak Brown said that Piastri was consulted about his own strategy during the race.
Brown said Piastri was asked if he wanted to race Norris in the closing stages, or Leclerc, and he chose the former.
Had he chosen the latter, it’s possible he would’ve only stopped once as well, but be forced to defend position late in the race from Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell on fresher tyres.
“You just had two different strategies there that converged… Oscar was faster there at the end, just couldn’t get by,” Brown said.
He added to Sky Sports: “I got to say, you’re never perfect in a race, so we’ll go back, and of course, we’ll go maybe we could’ve done this. But I think it was about as close to perfect as you get.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia reacts after the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix race at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)Source: AP
“The drivers were awesome. The pit stops amazing. Strategy was great to get Lando up there. Oscar drove brilliantly. I just couldn’t be prouder of this racing team.”
Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle said after the race that it would be a tough pill for Piastri to swallow.
He said that Piastri will have been demanding answers after the race.
“Oscar will be seething with that,” he said. “Remember the two radio calls. ‘Pit to undercut Leclerc’.
“They were busy strategising to beat Leclerc. Norris didn’t have that problem as he was out of the picture and came in 13 laps later and changed strategy.
“The great irony is by not being in that fight with the Ferrari at the front they had more freedom and took it.
“But he still had to deliver that pace for that amount of time on those tyres.
“Oscar will be asking why didn’t we do that. Why have we two stopped and been beaten by our teammate who one-stopped?”
Norris admitted after the race that a one-stop strategy was never the plan but after a poor start, that saw him slide down to fifth, he had to gamble.
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He said that it was “kind of our only option” to get back into the equation.
“I didn’t think it would probably get us to win. I thought it would get us into second, but I knew if I had some clean air, and I could push, I could maybe make things work and that’s what we did,” Norris said.
“It’s always a bit of a gamble with these things, but it also requires no mistakes, good laps, good strategy — all these things — and that’s what we had today so I’m very happy.”
He said his win, which moved him within reach of overhauling Piastri when the season resumes after F1’s August break, had been fun, but was not in any way decisive.
“We’re so tightly fought, it’s hard to say that momentum is on anyone’s side, but we’re fighting hard, both of us, and it’s fun. It’s tough, but fun racing with Oscar.
“And it’s great for us as a team, another 1-2 and our 200th win in Formula One.
“Credit to Oscar, he put up a good charge and I just about held on, so I look forward to many more of these.”
The outcome was McLaren’s fourth consecutive 1-2 in succession and Norris’s fifth win this year and ninth of his career.
McLaren now lead Ferrari by 299 points in the constructors’ championship ahead of the final 10 races of the season starting at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31.