Norris vs Piastri: F1 title duel heating up after Hungary

Lando Norris anticipates a titanic battle with Oscar Piastri for the championship, after his victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris, starting from third position, experienced a complicated start that relegated him to fifth place. However, he employed a bold strategy, stopping one less time than his rivals, which catapulted him to the lead. In an exciting finish, he resisted Piastri’s onslaught to secure the victory. Piastri was centimeters away from colliding with Norris on the penultimate lap, in a desperate attempt for victory. Norris, showing composure, held off the Australian and secured his fifth victory of the season, the third in his last four races. He crossed the finish line with only six tenths of a second advantage, reducing the gap in the championship to nine points, with ten races to go. Max Verstappen, who finished ninth, remains in third position, 97 points behind the leader.

I’m dead.

Lando Norris

The British driver acknowledged the demands of the competition. “In the last stretch, Oscar was catching up to me and I was pushing to the maximum. The battle with Oscar has been tough so far and will continue to be tough. The margins between us are very small,” Norris stated. “It’s going to be a good and tough fight, probably until the end.”

Norris’ victory in the last race before the summer break revitalizes his aspirations for the world title. However, the Bristol driver had to overcome some difficulties. In the start, Norris didn’t get a good start and an attempt to overtake Piastri in the first corner didn’t work. This left him in no man’s land, allowing George Russell and Fernando Alonso to overtake him. In lap 3, Norris overtook Alonso, but remained behind Russell, unable to make progress. Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who led the first part of the race from pole position, entered the pits to change tires on laps 18 and 19, respectively. Russell also stopped in the pits on lap 19, which gave Norris the lead.

McLaren considered a one-stop strategy. Norris’ race engineer, Will Joseph, communicated via radio: “Lando, 40 laps on the hard tire, are you up for it?”. Norris replied: “Yes, why not?” In lap 31 of 70, the Briton entered the boxes for his only tire change, setting the best lap times up to that moment. In his eagerness to catch the leaders, Norris went off track at the chicane, which annoyed Joseph. “Lando, stay focused, we don’t want these mistakes,” he told him. Leclerc, Piastri, and Russell were forced to stop again. After the changes, Norris was leading with a seven-second advantage over Leclerc, and Piastri, five seconds behind. Piastri moved forward, overtaking Leclerc on lap 51 and reducing Norris’s nine-second lead. With five laps to go, Piastri was only a second behind his teammate, and on the penultimate lap, the Australian attempted the overtake at the first corner. However, Norris kept his cool and stayed ahead to achieve a crucial victory in his fight for the championship. Russell completed the podium, with Leclerc in a disappointing fourth place. The next race will take place in the Netherlands on August 31.