Oscar Piastri looked the likeliest winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix as the race moved into its final phase, with McLaren managing strategy, Lando Norris pushing to recover time and Lewis Hamilton closing in behind the leaders.
The live picture kept changing at the Hungaroring. By lap 20/70, Max Verstappen was still driving well despite his gripes, but the McLaren pair were beginning to control the race. At 25/70, Piastri and Norris were both flying, and by 26/70 Verstappen was dropping back behind them even as Piastri reported that his tyres did not feel great.
Strategy quickly became the story. At 21/70, George Russell was up to seventh and both he and Antonelli appeared to be on a one-stop plan. That idea looked shaky by 22/70, when Antonelli’s gap to Piastri was 9.5 seconds. Antonelli pitted on lap 23/70 in 2.1 seconds and rejoined in sixth, while Russell stayed out a little longer before pitting on lap 28/70 in 3.9 seconds and emerging in ninth.
Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso reached 10th on lap 24/70 and briefly held a points position for the first time all season in his Aston Martin. The battle behind the McLaren cars was just as active. At 27/70, Leclerc and Antonelli were fifth and sixth, with Mercedes travelling 0.7 seconds faster. Russell then set a fastest lap on 31/70, Hamilton pitted on his tyres and came back out in seventh behind Hadjar, before passing Hadjar at the final turn to move up with 18 seconds separating him from Antonelli.
McLaren’s own strategy call became a talking point at 33/70. The team considered pitting but decided against it, Norris objected, Hamilton set another fastest lap and Piastri came in. By 34/70, Piastri had rejoined in fifth, Antonelli was on the back of Leclerc in third, and the race was tightening at the front. On 35/70, Norris was trying to make up time while Hamilton worried he had pitted too early. At 36/70, Antonelli was still hunting Leclerc and Piastri seemed the likeliest to win the race.
Why the late-race picture mattered
This was not a straightforward run to the flag. Pit-stop timing, tyre condition and the gap between one-stop and alternate strategies kept reshaping the running order. Piastri’s lead position was less about a clean break and more about managing a race in which every team seemed to be making decisions with incomplete information.
Norris remained in the mix, Hamilton kept closing, and the Mercedes-Ferrari battle stayed live behind the McLaren. With the race still open, the Hungarian Grand Prix was being decided as much in the pit lane as on the track.
