The winners and losers from F1’s 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix 

The Formulation 1 circus is heading right into a well-deserved summer time break after a gruelling 14-race stretch. And if the puzzling Budapest weekend is something to go by, some drivers and groups will want extra time than others to decompress. 

Winner: Lando Norris 

Ranging from the higher facet of the grid almost netted Lando Norris second over Piastri at first, however as an alternative the Briton received boxed in and handed by George Russell and Fernando Alonso. Funnily sufficient, that poor begin appeared to set off a sequence of occasions that landed Norris a ninth grand prix win, as the bottom he misplaced to Piastri led to him extending his first stint and resort to an – on the time – formidable one-stopper.

McLaren insists that even at that stage it wasn’t certain Norris might truly pull that off. However after Piastri unsuccessfully tried to undercut polesitter Charles Leclerc, the Australian instantly began worrying about Norris’ technique on the radio quite than in regards to the Ferrari man, and with good cause. 

The tip outcome was a brief however intense battle between the 2, with Piastri catching Norris hand over fist on brisker tyres however then unable to discover a well beyond. It is a kind of races the place Piastri did not do something unsuitable however nonetheless discovered himself on the dropping finish. Norris emerged because the winner on the day as he goes into the summer time break simply 9 factors behind, whereas Piastri will nonetheless fancy his possibilities to remain on high. 

In the meantime, we received to see the 2 dominant vehicles race on the entrance foot to discover a method to win, quite than making certain they completed forward of the opposite. McLaren did not take its 2 hundredth grand prix victory by being conservative. It did so by going motor racing. 

Loser: Charles Leclerc 

Whereas McLaren misplaced efficiency in a windy Q3 session, Leclerc delivered an excellent qualifying lap to take an surprising pole. And the Monegasque seemed fast within the race too, till his tempo out of the blue collapsed after a second cease for hards. 

Leclerc had already been annoyed earlier within the race with a few of the selections his engineers had made, which crew boss Vasseur defined was associated to vitality deployment. However with a a lot slower Ferrari his race unravelled from there, and Leclerc was powerless to remain out of the clutches of George Russell. 

His frustration appeared to show right into a bout of highway rage as he twice moved underneath braking to fend off Russell, with the Briton having to react swiftly to keep away from an accident. Given the chasm behind the pair, Leclerc’s five-second penalty for erratic driving was lenient. Very lenient. 

George Russell, Mercedes

Picture by: Bryn Lennon / Formulation 1 by way of Getty Photographs

Winner: George Russell 

Popping out of a tricky spell, Mercedes is again on the rostrum after rolling again its automotive to its pre-Imola spec and reverting to the outdated rear suspension. With that improve (learn: downgrade) off the automotive, Mercedes’ tempo and stability returned, and Russell too might have snatched pole on Saturday if it hadn’t been for a tough closing nook in gusty situations. 

The cooler situations clearly helped the W15, because it negated Mercedes’ properly documented vulnerability within the warmth on what might have been a tough circuit. And it allowed Russell to select up the place he left off as one in all F1 2025’s standout performers, leaping Norris at first earlier than ending as the very best non-McLaren driver, which is one thing of a victory in itself. 

Russell, who stated he would disappear right away for vacation on Sunday evening, will have the ability to take pleasure in his time without work in peace. That new Mercedes contract shall be within the mail quickly, and will probably be properly earned. 

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Group

Picture by: Zak Mauger / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs

Loser: Lewis Hamilton 

Russell’s former team-mate Lewis Hamilton additionally appears to be like prepared for a trip after a brutal first chapter of his extremely anticipated Ferrari stint. Simply as he began getting nearer to Leclerc and seemed to have overcome his adaption interval, Hamilton suffered two disappointing qualifying classes in fast succession to knock the wind out of his sails. 

A valiant comeback race in Spa was by no means going to be repeated on the slim confines of the Hungaroring, and whereas Hamilton has had his ups and down earlier than it was fairly telling for him to counsel Ferrari ought to simply get a unique driver – one of many few quiet phrases he let slip to the media throughout two gloomy days. 

The break comes at time for Hamilton as he resets for the second half of the 12 months. And to finish on a constructive word, the fact is that his final two weekends have not truly been as unhealthy as Hamilton’s temper and outcomes would counsel, having been pegged again by a good monitor limits name in Spa qualifying and a fair narrower Q2 exit in Budapest. But it surely hasn’t been the grand Ferrari entrance he and the tifosi dreamed off, removed from it. 

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Picture by: Jayce Illman / Getty Photographs

Winners: Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber 

Bubbly Bortoleto was the antidote to Hamilton’s distress after the Brazilian capped off one other excellent weekend together with his greatest F1 outcome, qualifying seventh and ending sixth. 

Gabriel Bortoleto admitted it was fairly surreal to be sandwiched in between his world championship successful associates Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen within the opening stint, however he didn’t look misplaced there as he made essentially the most of Sauber’s latest upgrades, rewarding him for his persistence throughout a tricky season begin for the crew. 

With team-mate Nico Hulkenberg on the again foot after qualifying, Sauber might rely on its different driver to maintain its constructors’ championship aspirations. The one draw back is that its rival Aston Martin received each vehicles within the factors. 

Max Verstappen, Pink Bull Racing

Picture by: Clive Rose / Formulation 1 by way of Getty Photographs

Losers: Pink Bull 

Pink Bull outdid Monza 2024 with what was arguably its worst race weekend efficiency in recent times, and it was a uncommon sight to even see Max Verstappen having to battle to make it to Q3. 

A lot has been fabricated from the RB21’s difficult steadiness, which has truly improved in latest months, however on the Hungaroring the automotive simply appeared to lack general grip and thus laptime. Each Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, who quietly did a comparatively good job this weekend regardless of his Q2 exit, had been then sliding a lot within the race {that a} one-stop technique was out of the query. 

Pink Bull was so poor this weekend on a low to medium pace circuit that almost all clues level in the direction of an incapability to modify on the tyres and get into the automotive’s slim operation window. Because of this each crew boss Laurent Mekies and advisor Helmut Marko had been assured Budapest was a one-off. Should you’re a Dutch fan with hard-earned Zandvoort tickets within the pocket, you will should hope they’re proper. 

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Picture by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Photographs

Winners: Aston Martin 

If anybody is aware of what’s going on with Aston Martin’s latest performances, then a sure Lawrence S. has a job supply on his Silverstone desk together with your identify on it. From being completely nowhere in Spa, Aston out of the blue leapt to the entrance of the midfield in Hungary and picked up 16 factors to maneuver as much as sixth within the standings. 

That means a monitor particular problem on high-speed circuits the place aerodynamic effectivity is a key requirement, whereas the Hungaroring is extra about piling load onto the vehicles with fewer straights to fret about. However the reality appears extra sophisticated than that, as each fifth-placed Fernando Alonso and seventh-placed Lance Stroll appeared at the hours of darkness about what has actually occurred. 

Alonso, who opportunistically moved as much as fourth at first earlier than inevitably dropping the spot once more to Norris, summed it up greatest: “The great factor is that we had been quick. The regarding factor is that we do not know why.” 

Alexander Albon, Williams

Picture by: Alastair Staley / LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs

Losers: Williams, Alpine 

Williams, Alpine and Haas all left Budapest with out factors of their baggage, so take your decide. Maybe Williams would be the most disillusioned given the latest improve bundle that seemed to present it a combating likelihood to regain management of the battle for fifth. 

The truth that it received these upgrades on the automotive in Spa, once they had been initially deliberate for Zandvoort, speaks to Williams’ extra environment friendly improvement course of behind the scenes at Grove. However whereas it has made its automotive way more of an all-rounder in comparison with the notorious straight-line rockets of outdated, circuits with lengthy, medium to high-speed corners like Hungaroring nonetheless appear to be its kryptonite. 

Aston’s large factors haul has now negated Albon’s glorious Belgium outcome, establishing an intriguing midfield battle for the rest of 2025 that additionally entails Sauber, Racing Bulls and Haas. 

Alpine simply does not appear to be within the dialog proper now, and appears like it would want extra opportunistic Pierre Gasly heroics in altering situations.