Lando Norris admitted it was “good to be back” after securing the first win of his world championship defence at Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Norris surrendered the lead to McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri following a sloppy start from pole position.
However, the reigning world champion took advantage of Piastri’s bizarre collision with backmarker Carlos Sainz midway through the race to seize the initiative and cross the line a comfortable winner.
It marked Norris’ first triumph since November’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, and he said: “My pace today was probably some of the best I’ve ever had.
“The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident. I’m just happy to be back and see the number one again. I want to believe we can carry this form forward and we can win more races.”
After losing the lead, Norris, clearly the faster of the McLaren drivers, was hot in his pursuit of Piastri and challenged the pit-wall to order his team-mate out of the way.
But in the end he did not need the order. Piastri’s afternoon unravelled on lap 38 of 70 when Sainz, preoccupied in his duel with Fernando Alonso for 15th, rammed a mystified Piastri off the road.
“Get out of the f****** way you idiot, oh my God,” yelled Piastri. The Australian could not believe what had unfolded in front of him but for Norris it was the ideal opportunity to snatch the lead. He did not hesitate to change tyres and rejoined ahead of Piastri.
“Oscar, that’s Sainz that cost us that,” said Tom Stallard, Piastri’s race engineer. “Oh mate, just don’t even f****** talk to me,” he replied.
It would get worse for Piastri when his gearbox expired with 14 laps remaining. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed, and Norris was able to dive in for a third pit-stop and retain the lead.
He took the chequered flag 15 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen following a commanding drive. He is 91 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli with 12 rounds left.
For George Russell, it marked another chapter in his bad-luck story. His new Mercedes engine went into anti-stall as the lights went out, leaving him 19th at the end of lap one. He recovered to seventh but is now 59 points off the title pace.
“I am past the point of disappointment now,” he said. “If I continue to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I will just be disappointed every day of the week.
“I’ve got to stay positive. Another technical issue which completely ruined the race, but my pace was as strong as anyone out there. It is unbelievable the list of things that have gone wrong for me this season.
“We are not the only ones, but it feels like it is happening substantially more to me than others. Hopefully it swings round. I don’t wish any bad luck on anyone but I haven’t had a season like this in my entire career.
“The pace was fine but the result was s***. I usually don’t feel like I need the summer break but this year I definitely do.”
