Formula 1 made its 40th visit to Hungary this weekend, a country that has become so popular as a combined F1 and city break destination for travelling overseas fans. Following this afternoon’s thrilling Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, which is located just outside Budapest, it was Lando Norris who beat his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and reduced his deficit in the Drivers’ Championship to just nine points.

After the reigning champion Max Verstappen revealed last Thursday in Hungary that he would be staying with Red Bull for at least 2026 and possibly beyond, Toto Wolff’s potential dalliance with him is now very much not going to happen next year, leading Mercedes to shift its focus back to extending George Russell’s contract, which expires at the end of the current campaign. This will probably happen over the summer break, and Russell made it clear in Hungary that he is not looking for a long-term deal, allowing the team to keep its future options open and, of course, his own too.

Referring to his worst ever qualifying performance in Hungary, the dejected driver subsequently commented in the media pen, “I’m absolutely useless—with the other car on pole, the team probably needs to change the driver.”

As for the other seat managed by Toto Wolff, 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli had been seen as a potential star of the future earlier this season, and justifiably so based on how comfortable and quick he appeared to be in a Formula 1 car, but of late he has been suffering a real loss of confidence, and this has been reflected in his poor qualifying and race performances. Antonelli was clearly struggling to hold back tears when he belatedly arrived in the media pen at Spa last Saturday after being eliminated in the first part of the three-stage qualifying process.

His Brackley-based team now really needs more than ever to show support for its teenage Italian prodigy, who, like Russell, will be out of contract at the end of this year, so that he can come through this difficult phase of his steep learning process and prove to Wolff that he should be retained for 2026. If his form reverts to what we were previously becoming both used to and amazed by, all should be fine, but if not, the renowned Formula 1 Piranha Club could potentially claim another victim. As a Formula 1 driver, whatever your age, you rightly live or die by your results.

Russell ultimately had the better of him there, and this year Leclerc has consistently outperformed his illustrious new teammate at the iconic Scuderia.

The same applies to F1 team principals too, and there has been much debate and speculation, particularly in Italy, about whether Ferrari should extend Fred Vasseur’s current three-year contract, which expires at the end of this season. However, that was all silenced just ahead of the Hungarian weekend when the Scuderia announced what is believed to be a further multi-year deal for its French team leader.

Charles Leclerc was smiling after his pole position but not after the race

The Race

Prior to Friday afternoon’s opening free practice period, which began at 13.30 local time, the Aston Martin team issued a press release advising that the now 44-year-old Fernando Alonso had been suffering with a muscular problem in his back since last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix and would miss the hour-long session. The team’s highly promising Brazilian reserve driver, Felipe Drugovich, took his place, but the intention was for the veteran Spaniard to return to his car from the second practice onwards. Piastri and Norris had dominated the race at Spa last Sunday, and the conclusion of first practice in Hungary, this pattern continued, albeit with the running order reversed, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Racing Bulls rookie, Isack Hadjar, proved to be the best of the rest.

Qualifying outside the top ten, as in Belgium last weekend and yesterday in Hungary, where even three rookies outpaced him, is not what Ferrari is paying him a vast salary for, and we can but wait to see what happens on this front.

Later on Friday afternoon Alonso did return for second practice, and again the McLarens of Norris and Piastri topped the timing screens, as Leclerc and this time Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin proved to be the next fastest on track. The third and final practice session took place early yesterday afternoon, and the papaya and black cars from Woking again dominated, with Piastri now on top and the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton third and fourth quickest.

This was followed by the all-important three-part qualifying process to determine today’s starting grid, and everyone was expecting McLaren to help themselves to the front row, but, in a surprise outcome for all concerned, it was not to be, as Ferrari’s Leclerc put in a stunning Q3 final lap to outpace them both and earn his 27th F1 pole position. Prior to this, the start of Q2 had had to be delayed slightly to enable gravel dragged onto the track in Q1 by Piastri to be swept clear, but it was to produce another shock result for 40-year-old Hamilton as he was only 12th fastest and eliminated. Referring to his worst ever qualifying performance in Hungary, the dejected driver subsequently commented in the media pen, “I’m absolutely useless—with the other car on pole, the team probably needs to change the driver.”

The gradual decline of, statistically at least, the best driver in F1 history had already begun well before he chose to leave Mercedes for Ferrari, as Russell ultimately had the better of him there, and this year Leclerc has consistently outperformed his illustrious new teammate at the iconic Scuderia. Qualifying outside the top ten, as in Belgium last weekend and yesterday in Hungary, where even three rookies outpaced him, is not what Ferrari is paying him a vast salary for, and we can but wait to see what happens on this front.

Mercedes looks set to extend George Russell’s contract shortly

Meanwhile, Antonelli also exited the Hungaroring fray in Q2 after being only 15th quickest. On the plus side, the Aston Martins fared much better than normal and would start today on the third row of the grid behind Norris and Russell. It was a difficult session for Red Bull, though, as Verstappen was only eighth in the top ten shootout, and his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, recorded another Q1 elimination.

The race was still far from over though, as Piastri set about reducing the gap to the leading Norris, and Russell was on a mission to relieve Leclerc of the final podium place, which he did on lap 62 at the first corner.

As the start of the final race before F1’s summer break neared, it already seemed highly likely that McLaren will cruise to this season’s Constructors’ title and that the Drivers’ title will be a two-horse contest between Piastri and Norris, but we still had a potentially exciting Grand Prix to look forward to today, with the conditions cooler and windier than yesterday and a threat of later rain lurking in the background. When those famous red lights were extinguished following the formation lap, which had begun at 3pm local time, the big question was whether Leclerc would be able to hold off the pair of pursuing McLarens and, if so, for how long. As the pack of 20 cars blasted off the grid on the 472-meter run down to the opening righthander, it was a flying Leclerc who maintained his advantage over Piastri, but Norris soon found himself down in fifth position behind Russell and Alonso. Then, as the race started to settle, Norris regained fourth place, while Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg picked up a five-second penalty for having jumped the start.

To their rear, it was an afternoon to forget for Verstappen, who started eighth and finished ninth, and Hamilton, who failed to make any progress from his 12th-place grid position.

On lap 19 Piastri pitted to switch from medium to hard specification tyres and Ferrari instantly reacted by bringing Leclerc in one lap later for the same change, with the Monégasque rejoining the track still ahead of his Australian rival. It soon became clear that McLaren would put Norris on a one-stop strategy compared to Piastri’s two-stopper, and on lap 32 the former made his only visit to the pit lane, with the team completing the change to hard rubber in a mere 1.9 s!

After those on two-stop strategies had made a second visit to the pit lane, Norris held a seven-second lead over Leclerc, with Piastri a further four seconds adrift, but this was to change five laps later when Piastri passed Leclerc at Turn 1, leaving the Ferrari driver furious with his colleagues on the pit wall. The race was still far from over though, as Piastri set about reducing the gap to the leading Norris, and Russell was on a mission to relieve Leclerc of the final podium place, which he did on lap 62 at the first corner. Leclerc’s defending was unduly aggressive, though, and he subsequently received a five-second penalty from the stewards for his behaviour, although it didn’t affect his fourth-place finishing position.

Fred Vasseur is to remain as the Ferrari team principal

As the Grand Prix entered its closing stages, Russell was a comfortable third, if well adrift of the two McLarens, and out front we were treated to a grandstand finish as Piastri got ever closer to Norris but ultimately couldn’t find a way past and had to settle for second. The top six finishers were completed by Alonso and the Sauber rookie, Gabriel Bortoleto, the latter being managed and mentored by the former on an ongoing basis. Alonso was almost a minute behind the winner at the chequered flag, but Aston Martin still celebrated the result, with teammate Stroll seventh too. To their rear, it was an afternoon to forget for Verstappen, who started eighth and finished ninth, and Hamilton, who failed to make any progress from his 12th-place grid position.

Formula 1’s four-week summer break period doesn’t mean that activity will cease for this period of time, but it is intended to allow all staff, whether travelling or factory-based, to have up to a two-week holiday before the season recommences at Zandvoort in the Netherlands at the end of this month.

2025 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1hr35m21.231s
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.697s
3 George Russell (Mercedes) +21.916s
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +42.560s
5 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +59.040s
6 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1m6.169s
7 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1m8.174s
8 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1m9.461s
9 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +1m12.645s
10 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) Lapped
11 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) Lapped
12 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) Lapped
13 Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) Lapped
14 Carlos Sainz (Williams) Lapped
15 Alex Albon (Williams) Lapped
16 Esteban Ocon (Haas) Lapped
17 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) Lapped
18 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) Lapped
19 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) Lapped
20 Oliver Bearman (Haas) Retired


2025 Drivers’ Championship
1 Oscar Piastri 284
2 Lando Norris 275
3 Max Verstappen 187

2025 Constructors’ Championship
1 McLaren 559
2 Ferrari 260
3 Mercedes 236