Norris says he was ‘better in every sense’ in Hungary than Piastri

Lando Norris believes his Hungarian Grand Prix victory was built on a decisive advantage over McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, insisting he had the upper hand “in every sense” throughout their tense intra-team battle at the Hungaroring.

The reigning Formula 1 world champion overcame a difficult opening lap after starting from pole position, briefly losing the lead to Piastri after running wide at Turn 2. But while the Australian moved ahead, Norris remained convinced the pace advantage was firmly on his side.

While Piastri pitted first, a clash with Williams backmarker Carlos Sainz allowed Norris to gain control of the race, at which point he never looked back and ultimately secured his first victory of the season.

Although Piastri later retired from second place with a gearbox failure, Norris was adamant the result would likely have remained the same even without his teammate’s misfortune.

Norris delighted by McLaren's dominant pace

For Norris, the biggest satisfaction from Hungary was not simply taking the chequered flag, but the performance level he managed to extract from the McLaren despite admitting the car was not always easy to handle.

“What pleases me the most? Just the fact we were so quick,” the Briton said after the race.

“I mean, the car was still horrible to drive at times, but quick, and I’d rather have a horrible but quick car than anything else. So, yeah, just the pace. The pace I had the whole race, even behind Oscar at the beginning.

“Of course, it wasn’t my finest Turn 2, but after that, seeing what my pace was like and I was just better in every sense, in terms of degradation and pace.

"I was convinced I could still win the race, even after that, whether I would box or force him to box and I would go long, get fresh tyres and come back through. So, I was convinced I could win the race today, and we did.

“Of course, it was unfortunate for him and unlucky, because I think we could have had a one-two. But otherwise, just my pace. My pace to stay so close to him for so long. We were just on another level today, and I felt in a very good flow of things. When the car’s good and when I’m in a good flow, there’s no stopping.”

The victory marked Norris’ first triumph since becoming world champion and his first win of the new campaign, adding another milestone to his career after securing the title at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Norris explains radio frustration during Piastri battle

Despite taking victory, Norris revealed that he was far from comfortable during the race. While stuck behind Piastri, he repeatedly pushed McLaren to consider allowing him to pit first and attempt an undercut.

The team ultimately maintained its internal racing principles, refusing to compromise Piastri’s race in order to favour Norris. The champion acknowledged the reasoning but admitted his competitive instincts were pushing him to take every possible opportunity.

“I mean, I just want to win the race, you know?” Norris said of his radio messages. "There are certain rules we have as a team, and we can’t harm each other’s race by being overly aggressive and wanting to win.

“But I want to win, and I certainly had much better pace than him. We had a much better chance of winning the race, let’s say.

“So, you know, when I was stuck behind Oscar, Max was three or four seconds behind, and at that point he’s still a threat. Ahead, there’s no threat, and we have a lot more of a guarantee that we’ll win as a team anyway.

• Read also: Piastri says Sainz clash ‘one of the dumbest things I’ve seen’

“So, I wanted to box and undercut because my pace would have been so good, I could have pulled away a whole pitstop window, I think, on him and boxed again if I needed to. Or I get him to box early.

“I think we were on the fine line between boxing too early and harming both of our races. So, it was just in the best interests of the team, which they rightly have to say back against me. But I want to do whatever I can to try and win a race, of course.”

With McLaren locking out the front row and Norris ultimately converting pole into victory, Hungary reinforced the team's dominance – but it also highlighted a fascinating dynamic between its two championship-calibre drivers. Norris left Budapest convinced that, on this occasion, he had simply been operating at another level.

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