Oscar Piastri had the win at the 2025 Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix in his grasp, but let it slip. Having been pipped by 0.062 seconds to pole by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, all eyes from the Aussie’s strategists were on the red car up ahead while Lando Norris’ poor start left the British driver in the rear view mirror.
The pace of Leclerc across the first two tyre stints was impressive but McLaren’s decision to try and undercut their Ferrari rival proved key in an afternoon where despite having choice of strategy, Oscar Piastri was beaten by the classic tyre whispering one stop strategy.
Having lost two places to Russell and Alonso at the opening corner, Lando Norris set about recovering his lost positions, overtaking the Spaniard on the second lap of the race he faced the obstinate challenge of re-passing the Mercedes driver.
Piastri forced into two stop
Yet both McLaren drivers found stiff resistance to their advances, with Piastri unable to stay with the pace of Leclerc and Norris’s moves blocked by the Mercedes driver. Then came a key moment in the race as Piastri’s side of the strategy team made a key decision to attempt the undercut on the Ferrari driver.
At the time the Aussie was some 2.7 seconds behind Leclerc and McLaren strategists knew if they pitted their driver, Ferrari would respond to cover off the move one lap later. The question was could Piastri make up the 2.7 seconds on his out lap with fresh rubber?
While the task was not impossible to make up 2.7 seconds with one lap of fresh rubber is no simple feat. Add to this the fact that McLaren were putting their driver onto the hardest compound which always takes some time to find the grip and come up to speed and it feels as though the strategists decision was a rather desperate roll of the dice.
Meanwhile Lando Norris too was experiencing his own strategic problems as his engineer repeatedly called for him to clear Russell as quickly as possible, something Norris was unable to do.
Mercedes stop opened the door for Norris
With Piastri forcing the issue on lap 18, predictably Ferrari covered off the threat by fitting their driver with fresh rubber the following lap. Co-incidentally Mercedes also decided it was time for Russell to bail on his first set of tyres crucially offering Lando Norris some clear air ahead of him.
With the top three having pitted the first time with more than 50 laps remaining of the Grand Prix, they were pretty much committed to running a two stop race strategy. Norris by comparison could crack on and use up the remaining tyre life in his medium compounds and the discussion with his engineer quickly became about how long Norris could extend his first stint.
With 30 laps of the race complete, Norris’s tyres were giving up the ghost and he was conceding chunks of time to Leclerc, Piastri and Russell who was on a charge. He was told to use up the graph had left and to come in for his one and only stop of the day on lap 31.
Interestingly, Norris had chosen to put a heat cycle through his new hard tyres, something Piastri didn’t do. This takes the shine off the rubber and as Aston Martin believe means the tyre gets up to its optimum temperature more quickly. In clean air Norris set about closing the deficit to Leclerc and his team mate.
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Piastri abandons hope of a one stopper
Meanwhile on Piastri’s side of the garage, there was a brief conversation about whether he too could switch to a one stop strategy, but with Leclerc putting in quick times lap after lap, the option was abandoned. Oscar was asked whether he wished to race for the win or whether he preferred to ensure he finished ahead of his team mate.
The decision was instant from the Aussie as he chose to confirm his position as leader of the drivers’ championship rather than fight Leclerc for victory. This time he elected to pit 5 laps later than Leclerc in an attempt to create a tyre offset advantage to his team mate. Yet Leclerc was to quickly fade in his third stint, leaving the McLaren pair to fight it out for the win.
Now almost 12 seconds behind the sister McLaren, Piastri set to work with tyre some fourteen laps fresher than his team mate with 25 laps remaining. The task ahead was plain. Piastri must make up half a second a lap over the remainder of the race to catch Norris and the Australian was metronomic. Lap after lap he closed the gap even ahead of the required rate meaning he was on the tail of Norris with four laps remaining.
As the pair started lap 68, Piastri tested out a move into turn one as he moved offline to see the level of grip available. Norris shit the door comfortably. Next time around the Australian made a serious attempt at the pass into the first corner, locking his front tyres and almost collecting Norris in the process.
Piastri chase comes up short
Piastri was then warned by his engineer of the papaya racing rules which dictates the two McLaren drivers are free to race but must avoid all contact on track. This appeared to take the wind out of the Australian’s sails as his final effort to make the move on his team mate petered out with Lando easily covering any overtake down the inside.
At the Pirelli briefings and team strategy meetings prior to the Grand Prix in Budapest, the one stop strategy was considered too risky. The resurfaced circuit was offering up higher tyre degradation than in previous years and so all thoughts of running a tyre whispering strategy were ignored.
Yet for Norris his poor opening lap meant he was forced to trail the Mercedes for most of his first stint was in fact the key to his win in Hungary. Fortunately for Lando, Mercedes had instructed Russell to first pit on the same lap as Charles Leclerc. This opened up clean air and the chance for Norris to run long in stint one.
Conversely in their desperation to claim the race win and beat the Ferrari ahead, Piastri’s strategists saw him pit early in a futile effort to deliver the undercut. But 2.7 seconds was never going to be recoverable unless of course Ferrari made a mistake during their first change of tyres.
Norris heroic defence over the final four laps, means the title race is wide open between the McLaren drivers, with Piastri’s lead now slashed to just nine points. Norris’ defeat of his team mate saw a fourteen point swing in the championship battle, which may prove decisive come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.
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Whilst the head honcho’s at Ferrari HQ announced they were extending the team principal’s contract during the Hungarian Grand Prix, all is not well in Maranello. Having finished 2024 with the quickest Formula One car, the Scuderia made the decision not to evolve their rapid SF-24, but to build one which had “99% new parts,” according to Fred Vasseur.
The biggest change was around the front suspension, with the team deciding to ditch their previously preferred front end push rod system one using push rod technology. Whilst a number of reports emerged this was in an attempt to make the incoming Lewis Hamilton more comfortable, the real reason was in fact quite different.
As Ferrari looked to the huge regulation changes coming in 2026, the view of the technical team is the new power units and chassis design would favour a push rod methodology and the switch of course has compromised their progress made in 2024…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
