By Reuters
McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Photo: FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT
Oscar Piastri has got used to winning since his first in Hungary last year and returns as Formula One leader looking to take a tidy advantage over McLaren teammate Lando Norris into the August break.
The 24-year-old has won six of 13 grands prix so far this season, already more than any Australian driver has ever managed in a single year, and leads his British rival by 16 points with 11 races remaining.
Hungary - hot and twisty and with a layout more like an overgrown go-kart track that makes overtaking tricky - puts a premium on qualifying.
Norris took pole last time in Hungary but lost out to Piastri at the start, recovered the lead when the Australian suffered a slower pitstop and was then ordered by the team to hand back the place.
The Briton eventually complied but it rankled at the time and he will be looking to win on Sunday without any such controversy.
With McLaren dominant, and historically the most successful team in Hungary, the stage is set for another duel between the teammates.
Who joins them on the podium remains an open question but this could be the moment Lewis Hamilton has been waiting for with Ferrari, while teammate Charles Leclerc has had five podiums already this season.
Hamilton has an unrivalled record at the Hungaroring with eight wins and was third last year, admittedly in a Mercedes, behind the McLarens. He also has nine poles at the circuit outside Budapest.
Four-times world champion Max Verstappen, winner in Hungary in 2022 and 2023, will be starting his 200th race for Red Bull.
Fresh off an eighth place finish in Belgium, New Zealand driver Liam Lawson will be hoping for at least the same amount of speed out of his Racings Bulls car.
"The car has been very fast recently, so it's important to work hard to build on that and keep improving, particularly when it's so tight at the moment," Lawson said.
"It's a different style of track which we're racing on and expect that it will be even closer than it was in Spa.
"I'm looking forward to getting out on track and extracting everything from the car."
The race is the 40th Hungarian Grand Prix and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who took his first win at the circuit with Renault in 2003, has raced in more than half of them - this being his record 22nd.
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT
Motor racing-Formula One statistics for Hungarian Grand Prix
Lap distance: 4.381km. Total distance: 306.630km (70 laps)
2024 pole position: Lando Norris (Britain) McLaren One minute 15.227 seconds
2024 race winner: Oscar Piastri (Australia) McLaren
Race lap record: Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:16.627 (2020)
Start time: 1500 local time (0100 Monday NZ time)
Hungary
This weekend will be the 40th Hungarian Grand Prix, 16 of them won from pole. The race debuted in 1986 as the first behind the former 'Iron Curtain' and is usually run in high temperatures.
Lewis Hamilton has won a record eight times in Hungary (2007, 2009 and 2012 with McLaren and 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 with Mercedes) and been on pole a record nine times with 12 podium finishes.
McLaren have the best record with 12 wins.
Fernando Alonso (2003), Esteban Ocon (2021), Max Verstappen (2022, 2023) and Piastri (2024) are other past winners.
The lowest winning start in Hungary was Jenson Button from 14th on the grid in 2006. Verstappen won from 10th in 2022 and Hamilton was third in 2014 after starting from the pit lane.
Verstappen took his first F1 pole in Hungary in 2019. Alonso, Ocon and Piastri's wins were their first in Formula One.
The circuit is sometimes referred to as 'Monaco without the walls' because it is short and twisty with overtaking difficult. There are 14 corners.
Mercedes-powered cars have been on pole for the last five editions of the race.
The grid area and pit lane have been resurfaced.
Championship lead
Piastri leads teammate Norris by 16 points. Verstappen is third and 81 points off the lead.
In the constructors' standings, McLaren (516 points) are now 268 points clear of second-placed Ferrari (248), with Mercedes third (220) and Red Bull fourth (192).
Wins
Hamilton has not won in more than a year, the most recent and 105th of his career came in Belgium on July 28, 2024. Hungary will be the seven-times world champion's 370th start.
Piastri has won six of 13 races this season, Norris four, Verstappen two and Russell one.
Verstappen has won 65 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Michael Schumacher on 91.
Norris and Piastri both have eight career wins.
McLaren have had six one-two finishes this season, including the last three races. They have not had so many one-twos since 1988 when Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna managed 10.
Pole position
Piastri, Norris and Verstappen have each been on pole four times this season, Russell once.
Podium
The McLaren drivers have each finished on the podium 11 times in 2025.
Charles Leclerc's second place in Monaco remains Ferrari's best of the season so far. The Monegasque now has five podiums for the season.
Hamilton has yet to stand on the podium for Ferrari.
Points
Piastri is the only driver to have scored in every race this season. The Australian has scored for 39 race weekends in a row, if sprints are included - and in 31 successive grands prix.
Only one driver on the grid has yet to score - Alpine rookie Franco Colapinto.
Milestone
Verstappen will be starting his 200th race for Red Bull.
-Reuters
