BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lando Norris held off his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in a tense finish to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday and boost his Formula 1 title chances heading into the mid-season break.
Norris clung on with worn tires as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps. He claimed McLaren’s 200th F1 win by less than a second to cut Piastri’s standings lead to nine points from 16.
“I’m dead. It was tough, it was tough,” Norris said. “The final stint, with Oscar catching, I was pushing flat out.”
Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tires last to stop only once, while Piastri changed tires twice.
Piastri steadily cut into Norris’ lead in the latter stages of the race but the British driver held on with old tires to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate while trying to pass on the second-to-last lap.
George Russell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc started on pole position with hopes of landing Ferrari its first Grand Prix win of the year, but ended up fourth after blaming the team for decisions he said left his car “undriveable.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
