Norris’ sacrifice makes Piastri a winner as McLaren put Red Bull on notice

No matter how gracious any Formula 1 driver is when their team mate collects the race winner’s trophy, that inherent desire to be the one hoisting that prize aloft instead cannot be easily quashed.So when circumstances conspire and leave teams facing the unsavoury prospect of requesting that one of their drivers voluntarily hands over the ultimate prize to the one who is often their closest competitor, conflict is inevitable.David Coulthard did so for Mika Hakkinen twice in consecutive races in the late nineties – and later admitted he regretted it. Was Felipe Massa ever the same after being told that Fernando Alonso was faster than him at Hockenheim? Was a podium celebration ever more awkward than on that infamous afternoon in Austria back in 2002 after Rubens Barrichello waved Michael Schumacher through?But when drivers choose to put themselves first, the results are rarely pretty. Sebastian Vettel picked himself over Mark Webber in Sepang, writing the phrase ‘multi-21’ into F1 folklore. Two decades prior, Ayrton Senna’s refusal to respect a pre-race agreement with Alain Prost at Imola was just another rip in their rapidly deteriorating relationship over 1989. And the Hungaroring was the stage where Lewis Hamilton and Alonso’s ill-tempered 2007 season truly turned irreparable.At least McLaren had plenty of prior experience of flashpoints between their drivers to lean on for when they eventually returned to the front of the field again – half of those famed cases involved their drivers…The opening races of the 2024 season were lukewarm affairs for McLaren but the team found its form after a successful upgrade in Miami. From Lando Norris’ win in that race onwards, McLaren had the car to win every time, though the Austrian and British rounds well to Mercedes.So when Norris and Oscar Piastri secured their team’s first front row lock-out of the V6 hybrid turbo era, narrowly denying Max Verstappen in the process, this was surely their best opportunity of the season so far to join Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes by becoming a multi-win team in 2024. All they had to do, as Piastri put it, was play it ‘smart’ in the race.Verstappen went off as he passed Norris at the startMcLaren started strong in this endeavour. They did not over-think their strategy for what was set to be a hot and dry race in Hungary, fitting medium tyres to both cars for both cars for the start – as did Red Bull for Verstappen, while many of their rivals followed suit behind. At the same event one year prior, Norris had started ahead of his team mate on the grid but emerged from the first corner behind. Starting from pole in a Formula 1 race for the fifth time in his career – two of which being sprint races – Norris was determined to achieve something he had so far failed to do in his career and convert pole into the lead of the opening lap.When the lights went out, Norris could tell within the first few metres that his lead was under threat into turn one. He pulled right in an attempt to deny Piastri the inside line, but the second McLaren was already beginning to overlap his own. At the same time, Verstappen was tucked up in Norris’s slipstream before pulling to the left to make it a three-wide affair into the braking zone for turn one.Norris had to hold his line, with his team mate hugging the inside. As all three rounded the corner, Verstappen could tell there would be no room for him at the exit and took to the escape road, keeping his throttle foot planted as he did so and charging back onto the track ahead of Norris.Having ‘gained’ a place from Norris, Verstappen came under attack at turn two – not from the McLaren, but Hamilton. The Mercedes tried a pass around the outside but was rejected, holding up Hamilton just enough for Norris to sweep by into third.Once the leaders settled into their order, the inevitable lobbying over the radio began. Norris was adamant Verstappen should return second place to him. Verstappen insisted he had been unfairly forced off. After reviewing the footage, Red Bull gently suggested to their driver that he should take this one on the chin and allow Norris back through – which he did exiting turn one at the start of lap four, voicing his displeasure over the radio as he did so.This meant Piastri’s lead was just over two seconds from his team mate, with Verstappen ahead of Hamilton in third and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr in fourth and fifth. The race was always expected run to a two-stop, but even with the cooler track temperatures, drivers would have to be very cautious about how they used their tyres. Naturally the leaders settled into their rhythm early on, but the McLarens were able to pace themselves slightly faster than Verstappen behind, with the championship leader complaining about the balance of his RB20 fairly regularly.Despite several runners near the rear of the field opting for early pit stops, it took until the end of lap 16 for anyone near the front to come in. Hamilton pitted for hard tyres, leading McLaren to respond by bringing in Norris – who had been just under five seconds ahead – on the next lap to ensure the Mercedes driver had no chance to undercut him over the following laps. With Hamilton successfully covered, McLaren could comfortably bring Piastri in from the lead on lap 18 and return him to the track still ahead of his team mate.Red Bull and Ferrari were the last of the leaders to bring their cars in, returning Piastri and Norris to the front but with Hamilton now the nearest to them having jumped Verstappen with his earlier stop. Not exactly thrilled by having lost track position to one of his fiercest rivals, Verstappen channelled his frustrations into hunting down the Mercedes.For over ten laps, Verstappen slowly reeled Hamilton in, eventually getting within the second he needed to activate DRS on lap 33. Two laps later, the Red Bull began closing on Hamilton down the pit straight, looming large in the Mercedes’ mirrors. Feeling pressured, Hamilton locked up into the first corner, which offered Verstappen a chance to get a better exit and drive around him out of the turn. However, Verstappen’s ill-balanced Red Bull refused to turn into the second corner and the world champion ran off the track, handing his position straight back to Hamilton.This proved only a temporary reprieve for Hamilton as it was not long before Verstappen soon returned to harass him once again. But rather than ask their driver to continue defending from the Red Bull, Mercedes instead chose to pit Hamilton onto a second set of hards at the end of lap 40, leaving him with 30 laps to cover on his third and final stint.Once again, Mercedes pitting Hamilton caught the attention of McLaren. Although his squabble with Verstappen meant he had dropped to over 10 seconds from Norris ahead, he was now lapping over a second a lap quicker than McLaren’s second-placed driver.Norris gradually fell back from his race-leading team mate after switching onto the hard tyres until lap 33, when a mistake from Piastri through turn 11 caused him to run off track and lose two seconds of his lead to his team mate. Almost as if Norris realised he could apply some pressure to his team mate and offer a challenge for the lead, he stayed within two seconds from then on. But soon McLaren decided it was time to cover the threat from Hamilton once again.