Oscar Piastri heads back to the Hungarian Grand Prix – the site of his maiden Formula One victory – this weekend with eyes set on widening his lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris in a tense title fight.
The 24-year-old Australian has racked up six wins in 13 races this season and holds a 16-point edge over Norris, though he’s under no illusions about the challenges ahead.
“I’m excited to return to where I got my first win,” Piastri said. “It’s a great city, a fun track and always an enjoyable weekend – but once we’re in the cars, the focus takes over.”
Piastri’s breakthrough win in Budapest last season came with a nudge from team orders – a move that added intrigue to his rapid rise.
After taking the lead from pole-sitter Norris at the start, he fell behind during the pit stops.
McLaren asked Norris to give him the position back, gifting him his maiden triumph in a manner that left the Briton feeling mistreated.
This time, Norris is determined to take the win on his own terms and cut into Piastri's lead.
Second in Belgium – where Piastri passed him after a rolling start on a drying, rain-affected track – Norris has shown flashes of brilliance but less consistency than the metronomic Melburnian.
While Norris’s occasional errors have been costly, the measured Piastri rarely falters.
A similar scenario could play out this weekend, with McLaren dominant after securing 10 wins so far this season and targeting their 200th before Formula One breaks for summer.
After rainstorms at high-speed Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes forest, the Hungaroring – a sinuous, slow circuit about 25 kilometers north of Budapest – offers a stark contrast. Often called “Monaco without the barriers,” it demands precision and rhythm.
The weather is expected to be warm and sunny, though thunderstorms loom, promising a twisting, technical challenge for teams and drivers alike.
The race joined the Formula One calendar in 1986, when venturing behind the Iron Curtain into Eastern Europe was still considered daring. But the first officially recognized Hungarian Grand Prix took place 50 years earlier in Népliget, a park in Budapest.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton – in need of a turnaround after what he called “one to forget” in Belgium – has won a record eight times at the Hungaroring and taken a record nine poles there.
This weekend could mark his first podium for Ferrari and relieve some of the pressure on the Maranello-based team.
The track is known for delivering surprise winners – often maiden victories – and is fondly remembered by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. Alonso was just 22 when he became the youngest driver at the time to take pole and win a Grand Prix in 2003. Two years later, he became the sport’s youngest world champion.
This weekend will be Alonso’s record 22nd Hungarian Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, four-time world champion Max Verstappen is set to start his 200th race for Red Bull.
The Dutchman, who won in 2022 and 2023, no longer enjoys the same dominance under new team boss Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner.
