Lando Norris capitalised on an alternate one-stop strategy to triumph in a captivating Hungarian Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old trimmed McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri's F1 drivers' championship lead to just nine points at the summer break, surviving a late-race charge from the Australian.
Lewis Hamilton had a torrid weekend on the outskirts of Budapest, going pointless at the Hungaroring - and started to publicly question whether Ferrari ought to replace him.
So, who has made the RacingNews365 list of winners and losers for the 2025 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix?
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Winner - Lando Norris
There are a few sliding doors moments in every close F1 championship fight, and Norris' decision to go for the one-stopper at the Hungaroring was one of them.
Staring down the barrel of potentially a 23-point deficit to Piastri - or worse - at the summer break, the British driver had to roll the dice.
Sometimes, you need good fortune to win a title, and after slipping behind his McLaren team-mate on pace over the course of the weekend, the strategy "gamble", as Piastri called it, was just that.
It does not, however, detract from what was a magnificent recovery-turned-defensive drive from Norris. It was a hard-fought win built on the foundation of great tyre management and strong pace. He yet again proved he can soak up and absorb Piastri's pressure when it is at its zenith.
Much will be said - and many questions will be asked - over whether McLaren favoured Norris in Budapest, but he earned that victory against a driver in equal machinery on the optimal strategy, charging at him on significantly younger tyres.
Loser - Lewis Hamilton
Things could not have gone much worse for Hamilton at what is usually a happy hunting ground for the seven-time F1 drivers' champion.
His Q2 elimination was his worst qualifying performance at the Hungaroring on pace alone, and the first time in his career he did not reach Q3 at the circuit on the outskirts of Budapest.
Post-session self-chastisement showed just how much Hamilton is going through it early in his Ferrari tenure. On Thursday, he suggested there would be healthy tears over the shutdown, but his Saturday remarks were on another level, labelling himself "useless" and insisting Ferrari needed a new driver - Charles Leclerc putting the other SF-25 on pole did not help matters.
The hard-to-medium strategy during the grand prix proved fruitless, with Hamilton finishing where he started in a lapped P12 - but he was not done with the harsh words of self-rebuke.
Cryptic words about things going on in the background will do nothing to quell the noise surrounding him and the Maranello team after an underwhelming start to life together.
Winner - Aston Martin
From the back row at Spa-Francorchamps to the third row at the Hungaroring is quite the turnaround for the Silverstone squad.
Even more satisfying for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll was being able to make good on that strong qualifying performance, taking their AMR25s to fifth and seventh at the chequered flag.
It was a huge result for Aston Martin in the wider context of the season, vaulting the team up to sixth in the constructors' standings and providing a foundation from which to kick on over the remaining 10 rounds.
Alonso's entire weekend looked in doubt when he missed FP1 through injury, but he underlined his value to the team in Hungary. Spare a thought for Felipe Drugovich, though.
As for Stroll, he showed excellent form throughout the practice sessions and managed to transfer that into qualifying, something that has not always happened this season.
Loser - Red Bull
Helmut Marko described the Hungarian Grand Prix as Red Bull's "worst" weekend of the year, and it is hard to argue with the forthright-if-slightly-misguided 82-year-old.
He also ruled Max Verstappen out of the F1 drivers' fight. With 10 rounds left and a 97-point deficit to Oscar Piastri atop the standings, that's two-for-two on matters it is difficult to disagree with Marko on.
Red Bull has made its trusted Friday-night turnarounds somewhat of a calling card over the past year or so, but its modus operandi deserted the Milton Keynes-based team at the Hungaroring.
Yuki Tsunoda will clutch onto the silver lining that he was the closest he has been to Verstappen all year on one-lap pace, but P16 and eighth in qualifying is nothing to write home about for the pair.
Things got even worse in the race itself, the four-time F1 drivers' champion slumped to ninth, and the Japanese driver extended his pointless run to seven rounds.
Winner - Gabriel Bortoleto
The Brazilian driver is quickly making the F1 establishment stand up and take notice, and that was no more evident than through his career-best display in Hungary.
Having qualified an impressive seventh, he heads into the summer break leading Nico Hulkenberg, who is mighty quick over one lap, 8-6 in their qualifying head-to-head at Stake.
He followed that up with a superb drive to sixth, which included a first-rate defence of his position against a fast-charging Verstappen in the opening phase of the race.
Quickly coming into his own, Alonso branded him the "best rookie of this generation" on Sunday and argued that he would be "front page news" if he were British.
In an era with Isack Hadjar turning heads by his excellent start to life in F1 and the highly-touted Kimi Antonelli, who is widely regarded as a generational talent, Bortoleto's performance in Hungary underpins just how good he is - and can be.
Loser - Pierre Gasly
Misery loves company, and Pierre Gasly joins Red Bull in having his worst weekend of the campaign.
The Frenchman was outshone by Franco Colapinto in the other Alpine for most of the round - and for all of the sessions that mattered.
Given how embattled the Argentine is at the moment, that is saying something. A Q1 knock-out whilst Colapinto survived to Q2, to then finish last on the road in the grand prix caps off a difficult and frustrating first half of the season.
Much of that is down to Team Enstone, which is rooted to the foot of the constructors' standings on 20 points - all contributed by Gasly.
He has broadly performed well, really well even, but the weekend on the outskirts of Budapest is one he will be rushing to forget.
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