Lando Norris reveals lack of belief in F1 career first

Lando Norris has revealed that he lacked belief his Hungarian Grand Prix one-stop method would work for the "majority" of his final stint before going on to win for the first time on an alternate strategy.

The Briton made a poor start at the Hungaroring and fell to fifth by the end of the first lap, before finding his route forward blocked momentarily behind Fernando Alonso initially, and then primarily, George Russell. It caused Norris to become detached from the top two, resulting in a different plan in a bid to rescue significant points. 

A two-stop was conducted by the leaders; however, Norris managed to nurse his second set of tyres for a staggering 39 laps to win his fifth race of the season. 

It did not come easily following his only pit-stop, as the McLaren driver was hunted down by team-mate Oscar Piastri. The pair had an intense battle in the closing laps, where the Australian almost went into the back of Norris on lap 69.

Norris narrowly held on to reduce Piastri's title advantage to just nine points, in what the 25-year-old judged as his first F1 victory achieved by an alternate strategy.

Asked if it was the most satisfying victory of his career, Norris told the media, including RacingNews365: "I think it's one of the first ones I've won in probably this manner. 

"I've not won many races, so most circumstances are still new, but I think it's the first one where doing a completely alternate strategy to most, giving myself that opportunity, worked out. 

"I think there have been some others where going long in the first stint, Miami, then getting the safety car, things like that have helped me on the luck side. There was not really any of that. 

"So, I think the most rewarding from 'Let's try to do something different' and it working out, which was a good one. It's a tough strategy to do, but it worked out. That's the most important thing. 

"And, honestly, I didn't really think it was going to work for the majority of that second stint. But with every lap, I kind of gained more confidence that it was going to be closer and closer. So, yeah, definitely a rewarding one."