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McLaren

McLaren explain Lando Norris gamble crucial to Hungarian victory

Lando Norris scored the 200th F1 victory for McLaren with a thrilling defence against Oscar Piastri in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris win Hungary
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McLaren boss Zak Brown has explained the gamble the team took with Lando Norris's one-stop strategy in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A slow start by Norris dropped him to fifth behind George Russell and Fernando Alonso in Budapest, although Alonso was quickly passed.

Engineer Will Joseph switched Norris to a one-stop strategy, eventually coming in for the only time on Lap 31 of 70, with Piastri remaining on a two-stop. 

He pitted again on Lap 46, and after passing Charles Leclerc, had 19 laps to catch and pass Norris, moving into DRS range in the final five tours.

Piastri did have a lunge at Norris and heavily locked-up, but could not pass his team-mate, as Norris trimmed the points lead to nine heading into the summer break. 

Explaining the one-stop decision, Brown said that McLaren effectively had nothing to lose with Norris.

"It was all under control, and we had Lando's first lap, and we weren't planning on doing a one-stop strategy," Brown told Sky Sports F1. 

"We weren't sure if we could, but then we got to a point where we said: 'Let's try'.

"We knew it was going to come down to the last five laps, and it was great to see them race very hard and very clean. 

"Everyone will sleep well tonight, but I've got to say, you're never perfect in a race. 

"We'll go back, and of course, we maybe could have done [this or that], but it was as close to perfect as you get. 

"The drivers were awesome, the pit-stops amazing, and the strategy was great to get Lando up there, and Oscar drove brilliantly."

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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes and Nick Golding, as they dissect the final race before the F1 summer break – the Hungarian Grand Prix!

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